Last week, Missouri took a significant first step toward launching legal sports betting.
That comes after news that the Missouri Gaming Commission sent draft sports betting regulations to Gov. Mike Kehoe’s office for review on January 27, KSHB reported.
That puts the launch of Missouri sportsbooks in line with the goal date set by the MGC after Missouri voters approved sports betting in November. Part of that timeline includes the issuance of licenses by the end of June.
The MGC has until December 1, 2025 to get Missouri sports betting live.
Missouri Bettors Will Have To Wait
Unfortunately, Missouri bettors won’t be able to bet on the Mizzou Tigers in the NCAA Tournament or St. Louis Blues until next season. As for the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals; bettors may be able to enjoy wagering on the local baseball teams potentially by the end of summer, depending on how quickly the MGC can get sports betting live.
Our best guess is that sports betting will go live by the end of summer, just before the beginning of the NFL season. This would make the most sense given the popularity of the NFL and the success of Missouri’s own Kansas City Chiefs.
The go-live timeline of current sports betting states has taken an average of eight months from legalization to launch. So that would put the launch for Missouri sports betting apps sometime in August, which again, is right on track.
Casinos, Sports Teams Can Get In On The Action
Amendment 2, the state’s sports betting law, allocates six sportsbook licenses each for Missouri’s six casino licensees:
- Affinity Gaming
- Bally’s Corp
- Boyd Gaming
- Caesars Entertainment
- Century Casinos
- PENN Entertainment
Professional sports teams
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Kansas City Royals
- Kansas City Current
- St. Louis Blues
- St. Louis Cardinals
- St. Louis City SC
As well as two “untethered” licenses, which won’t have a retail partner.
Several sportsbooks have partnerships with casino operators in the state while others already have team partnerships, such as BetMGM Missouri with the Kansas City Chiefs.
It’ll be a flurry of action between now and launch, so make sure to check back frequently on all of our latest sports betting launch updates in the Show-Me State! Stay tuned for the best Missouri sportsbook promos as soon as they are live.
