The question to legalize Missouri sports betting picked up two significant endorsements this week, while the campaign behind the initiative gained new funders.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas endorsed Amendment 2, the question on next week’s ballot to legalize Missouri sports betting. The ballot campaign is backed by Winning for Missouri Education, a PAC funded by DraftKings and FanDuel.
“Every time a Missourian has to drive across the river to Illinois to place a sports bet is a missed opportunity for our city, our state and our passionate sports fans,” Jones said. “Missourians are betting on sports; we just aren’t getting any of the benefits. Amendment 2 will change this by allowing Missourians to place bets in a regulated, safe way that actually benefits our local economies and classrooms.”
Winning for Missouri Education also gained four new financial contributors this week: the St. Louis Blues, St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis FC and Kansas City Royals. The professional sports teams each added $333,000 to the cause, according to filings with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
Missourians try to bet on sports
Missourians have attempted to place more than 11 million wagers since the beginning of football season, according to new data released by GeoComply this week. Those attempts were linked to 216,000 mobile sports betting accounts in legal sports betting markets.
GeoComply found that 57% of the attempts were tied to Illinois sportsbooks. Another 37% were attempting to access Kansas sportsbooks.
Growing list of endorsements
Lucas and Jones join an ever-expanding list of Missourians backing the ballot question. Earlier this week, the St. Louis and Kansas City Building Trades Councils, the Kansas City Star and the St. Louis Dispatch announced their endorsements.
“Whether it’s hosting the World Cup, playoff baseball or Monday Night Football, or being home to the first stadium in the world purpose-built for a women’s professional sports team, Kansas City is a great sports town,” Lucas said. “Fans of Missouri’s six professional sports teams are some of the most passionate and knowledgeable in the entire country, but unfortunately, live in one of only a dozen states that hasn’t legalized sports betting.
“Now is the time to allow our teams to further engage with these fans, while also keeping the money from sports betting right here on the Missouri side of State Line Road.”
Missouri politicians backing sports betting
Both gubernatorial candidates, Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and Democratic Rep. Crystal Quade, have backed the question. A bipartisan ad for the ballot question came out last week featuring Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden and Sen. Brian Williams.
“We are proud to have a growing list of leaders from all political backgrounds standing together to support Amendment 2,” Winning for Missouri Education spokesperson Jack Cardetti said in a statement.
Other politicians to endorse Amendment 2:
- Sen. Justin Brown (R-16)
- Rep. Jeff Myers (R-42)
- House Speaker-elect Rep. Jon Patterson (R-30)
- Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-22)
- Rep. Steve Butz (D-81)
- Rep. Dane Diehl (R-125)
- Rep. Justin Hicks (R-108)
- Rep. Dan Houx (R-54)
- Rep. Jeff Knight (R-142)
- Rep. Aaron McMullen (R-20)
- Rep. Chad Perkins (R-40)
- Rep. Raychel Proudie (D-73)
- Rep.-elect Melissa Douglas (D-27)
- Rep. Anthony Ealy (D-36)
- Rep. Mark Sharp (D-37)
- Sen. Barbara Washington (D-9)
- Rep. David Casteel (R-97)
- Rep. Marlon Anderson (D-76)
- Rep. Gretchen Bangert (D-70)
- Rep. Phil Christofanelli (R-104)
- Rep. Doyle Justus (R-41)
- Rep. Chris Lonsdale (R-38)
- Rep. Sherri Gallick (R-62)
- Rep. Donna Baringer (D-82)
Big funding for sports betting
DraftKings and FanDuel have contributed more than $40 million to Winning for Missouri Education.
While two leading sportsbooks and a growing number of stakeholders in Missouri support the question, they are not without opposition.
Caesars has donated more than $14 million to the opposition PAC Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment. Industry sources have told LSR that Caesars is unhappy with the ballot question that would provide casino operators with one skin and would also open up two untethered online licenses.
Missouri sports betting framework
The question would set up online and in-person sports betting licenses for the state’s six professional sports teams and six casino operators.
It would establish a tax rate of 10% on sports betting revenue. The state estimates it could generate up to $28.9 million in tax revenue annually from sports betting.
Missouri sports betting polling has regularly shown the question with more than 50% of voter support.