Missouri Teams Push Legal Sports Betting For 2024 Ballot

• Professional sports teams in Missouri are pushing to get legal sports betting on the 2024 ballot.
• The sports betting coalition formed a legal sports betting petition and will begin gathering signatures.
• A successful constitutional amendment would allow Missouri to offer online sports betting throughout the state.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A new Missouri ballot initiative led by professional sports teams is trying to bring legal sports betting to Missouri. The sports betting coalition took the first step towards forming a petition where legal sports betting supporters hope to qualify for the 2024 ballot.

The petition needs 180,000 signatures by May to qualify for the 2024 ballot. With legal Missouri sports betting failing to make it past the Senate in recent years, professional sports teams are taking action by letting Missouri voters decide.

House Bill 556 passed by a 118-35 vote with companion bill House Bill 581 in March but never advanced past the Senate. A similar sports betting bill died in the Senate in 2022, but professional teams look to avoid repeated Missouri sports betting failure by bringing it to the voters in 2024.

Multiple versions of the legal sports betting petition were submitted to the Secretary of State on Friday for approval.

Which Teams Are In and What Happens if They’re Successful?

The coalition is led by the St. Louis Cardinals and supported by the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Blues, St. Louis City SC, and the Kansas City Current. All of the professional Missouri sports teams are tired of missing out on massive betting revenues earned by neighboring teams.

Now that Kentucky joined the group of states with sports betting, Oklahoma is the only bordering state of Missouri without legal sports betting. Missouri’s proposed constitutional amendment would utilize a similar legal sports betting structure as neighboring states.

A 10% tax on gross gaming revenue would generate roughly $30 million annually for the state. A key note for professional sports teams is the amendment would allow teams to offer brick and mortar sportsbooks at their stadiums.

According to David A. Lieb of AP News, the state’s problem gambling fund would receive $5 million to help addicted gamblers. Excess tax revenue would go towards education systems, both K-12 and collegiate institutions.

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