As Missourians head to the polls Tuesday, the state’s six professional sports teams made their final plea to voters to legalize Missouri sports betting.
The six professional sports teams in Missouri ran ads in their respective papers, the Kansas City Star and St. Louis Post-Dispatch, asking voters to legalize sports betting Tuesday. Meanwhile, NFL Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez was featured in a new TV ad urging Missouri voters to say Yes on Amendment 2.
According to recent LSR analysis, Missouri sports betting could generate up to $4.5 billion in wagers and $500 million in sports betting revenue. Winning for Missouri Education, the campaign behind the ballot question, projects that the state can rake in $100 million over the next five years for the state’s education system.
Closing Missouri sports betting arguments
The Kansas City Chiefs, Royals and Current ran an ad Sunday in the Star’s sports section.
Last week, the St. Louis Blues, Cardinals and City SC ran a full-page ad in the Post-Dispatch’s sports section.
“Whether or not you participate in sports betting, you likely know someone in St. Louis who does,” a letter from the St. Louis teams read. “Let’s bring that tax revenue back to our state and fund our classrooms.”
Missouri teams support question
The teams launched the ballot initiative last year after multiple failures in the state legislature.
DraftKings and FanDuel funneled more than $40 million into the campaign. Last week, all the teams except the Chiefs also donated to the campaign.
The question would legalize online and in-person sports betting, with licenses going to the state’s sports teams and casino operators. The state would tax sports betting revenue at 10%.
Missouri bettors ready
GeoComply recently identified more than 200,000 online sports betting accounts for Missourians.
The geolocation company has blocked more than 11 million attempts by Missourians trying to access legal sportsbooks in other markets, like Illinois and Kansas.
Sports betting opposition tapered down
Caesars funded a campaign against the ballot initiative, as industry sources told LSR the company was unhappy with the question’s language.
The gambling company and its three Missouri casinos contributed more than $14 million to Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment.
However, the campaign pulled back on its ads in October. Missouri sports betting polling has regularly shown more than 50% of voters support the question.
