CARDINALS, BLUES, AND ROYALS SUPPORT SPORTS BETTING IN MISSOURI

Nick Makowitz Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

Sports betting in Missouri is illegal, but there are some influential players advocating for its legalization. The St. Louis Cardinals, St, Louis Blues, and Kansas City Royals are pushing for sports betting legalization during Missouri’s 2022 legislative session.

Within the last few years, professional sports teams have switched their stance on sports betting. Previously harsh critics, sports teams now generally support legalization and even actively lobby for it in some instances. Some sports stadiums have mobile betting lounges, and the Arizona Cardinals will have a BetMGM Sportsbook in its stadium for the 2022 NFL season.

The aforementioned teams, plus St. Louis City SC, have formed a coalition and filed nine proposed ballot initiatives to legalize sports betting. The proposals are not currently being circulated for signatures, but according to the teams, the purpose of the ballot initiatives is to serve as a backstop in case talks among state legislators stall again.

Since 2019, more than 20 bills that involve some form of sports betting have been filed, but none have satisfied all sides. The most contentious back-and-forth surrounds tax rates, application fees, and administrative fees.

Legislators on the side of Missouri’s professional sports teams cite the potential tax revenue as the most beneficial feature of legal sports betting in Missouri. Without legalizing sports betting, Missouri sees potential users cross over into Illinois and Iowa or even go off-shore. In 2021 alone, Illinois has collected over $50 million in state tax revenue.

Sports betting tax rates vary widely across the country, ranging from 6.75% all the way up to 51%. Illinois and Iowa sit at 15% and 6.75% respectively. Representative Dan Shaul suspects Missouri could collect more than $40 million per year in tax revenue.

Missouri Senator Denny Hoskins plans to pre-file a sports betting bill in December for review in 2022. If Missouri does pass a bill to legalize sports betting, the state tax revenue could be used in a multitude of ways. Hoskins would like to focus the new revenue for education. Dan Shaul would like to spend the money on the state’s veterans.

There is clearly enough support across Missouri legislature to legalize sports betting. The delay lies in the legislators’ inability to agree on the details.

Although professional sports teams in Missouri are advocating for sports betting legalization, it’s unclear what role they would have or what partnerships they would agree to should legalization become a reality. However, because of their heavy involvement before legalization, it’s fair to speculate the teams would strike deals to include mobile betting lounges or in-stadium sportsbooks as mentioned above.

The Missouri State Lottery has already stated its desire to regulate sports betting when it becomes legal. Whether it’s legalized in 2022 or sometime after, the capacity in which it’s legalized will be interesting. What will the tax rate be? What will application fees look like? How many sportsbooks will be allowed into the market? It’s possible we have answers before 2023.

Written by Nick Makowitz, our US Sports Betting Industry expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise here.

Nick Makowitz

In his spare time, Nick likes digging into NFL and NCAAB betting data, going to breweries with friends, and trying out any and every Mexican restaurant in Pittsburgh. More from Nick Makowitz