Fanatics has secured its spot in the Missouri sports betting market.
A top-five brand nationally, Fanatics Sportsbook has entered into a first-time partnership with Boyd Gaming that unlocks local access for its online sports betting app. The multiyear deal, announced on Monday, also includes retail operations at Boyd’s two properties in the state.
Six Missouri sports betting licenses are now accounted for as the landscape begins to come into focus ahead of the Dec. 1 launch. As many as 14 online brands could ultimately find their way into the market via one of the remaining keyholders.
Fanatics On The Road To Missouri
In addition to its digital presence in Missouri, Fanatics will operate new brick-and-mortar sportsbooks at the Ameristar casinos in both Kansas City and St. Charles.
This news follows the recent announcement that Flutter has repurchased Boyd’s 5% share of the FanDuel business for $1.8 billion. The two have been engaged for market access in a number of states dating back to the early expansion in 2018, and their separation creates opportunities like this for the competition.
Missouri will be the 24th active online market for Fanatics, a footprint that has grown to surpass all other brands except FanDuel (24) and DraftKings (27). The company also operates retail sportsbooks in neighboring Illinois and Iowa.
Missouri Go-Live Inching Closer
Missouri sports betting is suddenly starting to take shape.
Regulators earlier this month awarded untethered licenses to DraftKings and Circa, a surprise snub for the national market leader. Apart from those two online-only licenses, all others require a partnership with one of the state’s six sports teams or 13 casinos.
FanDuel didn’t stay out in the cold for very long, quickly announcing a partnership with St. Louis City SC that facilitates its entry into the market. Bet365 similarly formed a partnership with the St. Louis Cardinals in March, and BetMGM has also locked up its spot via a deal with Century Casinos. These partnerships hinge on license approval from the gaming commission in a process that begins after rules take effect on Aug. 30.
When it goes live later this year, Missouri will become the 39th state with legal sports betting and the 31st online. Previous estimates from LSR forecast more than $4.5 billion in handle and $500 million in revenue annually.
