The future of legal sports betting in Missouri is now in the hands of local constituents who will vote yea or nay or Amendment 2 this November 5th.
Winning for Missouri is the group leading the charge and getting the message in front of voters. Supporters of WFM include DraftKings and Fanduel, two domestic operators that are anxious to get into the market.
How anxious? The pair have reportedly donated more than $10 million to WFM so far. Also on board with the effort are the state’s six professional ball clubs, including the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, Kansas City Royals, and Kansas City Chiefs.
Details Of Amendment 2
- The minimum age to bet on sports will be set at 21 years old
- A limit of one sportsbook license per company
- In-person, online, and mobile sports betting will be permitted
- A 10% tax will be collected on domestic sportsbook revenue.
A similar measure was voted down in 2022, but recent polling indicates that 52% of Missourians are in favor of legalizing domestic sports betting. All that is required for Amendment 2 to pass is a simple majority.
Proponents of the ballot measure tout the monies that will be directed toward the state’s education fund. This will result in an additional $36,000 for each of MO’s 554 school districts annually, according to Winning for Missouri.
Just like in 2022, there is plenty of opposition to the implementation of local sportsbooks. There’s always going to be a sizable portion of the population that is purely against the idea of any kind of legal gambling.
What’s stirring up the haters this time around is the potential for fuzzy math regarding the taxes the state will collect. Under the current language, sportsbooks can write off winnings that are based on sports betting bonuses.
New customers are offered sign-up promos that stuff their accounts with free cash. If the gambler loses all of the bonus money betting on sports, there’s no financial hit in either direction for the book.
If the account holder comes out ahead after betting all the promo cash, part of the money withdrawn can be written off by the sportsbook.
Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Agreement, an opposition group, has an advertisement circulating highlighting the language in Amendment 2 that implies a range of between $0 and $28,900,000 in annual tax collections.
The state’s land-based casinos are also against Amendment 2. MO’s three Caesars locations have donated $4 million to MATDOGA because only one license per company is allowed in the current language.
Caesars argues that its three existing casinos should benefit more from the new gambling avenues than the out-of-state vendors supporting Amendment 2.
Sources:
