Missouri Sports Betting Could Save Casino Industry

The casino industry is navigating a turbulent time in its history. It’s not a mystery as to why. The proliferation of online sports betting in the United States as well as online casino gaming in the United States have thrown brick-and-mortar gambling establishments for a whirl. Certain markets are insulated against the shift. Missouri sports betting legalization is about to ensure The Show Me State is among them.

At the very least, this is the expectation among officials. They believe that sports betting in Missouri will not just preserve the foot-traffic business, but it will actively inflate it. And even if it doesn’t, the online Missouri sports betting element represents an entirely new, lucrative revenue stream for them.

Casino Forecasts are on the Rise Following Missouri Sports Betting Legalization

While Missouri sports betting will not launch until December, casino operators are already taking victory laps with their revenue projections. As Dave Grendzynski of Action Network details:

“Looking ahead, the Show-Me State’s casinos are setting the stage for another potential windfall with the impending launch of sports betting on December 1, 2025. Things are already starting to get real on the Missouri sports betting scene. Four of Missouri’s highest-grossing casinos — Ameristar St. Charles, River City Casino, Hollywood Casino, and Ameristar Kansas City — are partnering with either Fanatics or ESPN BET. The plan is to open branded retail sportsbooks in December, coinciding with the state’s legal sports betting launch. It’s a story we first reported in August.

“This introduction is not only expected to attract a flood of bettors but also promises a significant boost to the state’s coffers. Early projections anticipate the Missouri sports betting handle could hover between $3.4 billion and $4 billion, potentially generating $47.5 million in new tax revenue while earmarking up to $5 million annually for responsible gambling programs. The impact of sports betting is poised to extend well beyond betting slips. By integrating retail sportsbooks within casinos, operators are likely to see a spike in foot traffic as sports fans swing by not just to place bets but also to try their luck at slots and tables.”

The projections for Missouri sports betting are not necessarily a surprise. Even with operators having to contend with the rise of prediction markets, legal sports betting continues to be among the biggest revenue drivers for states that offer it. The Show Me State has a chance to be a top-12-to-15 market, so the numbers mentioned here make sense.

But the impact Missouri sports betting could have on casino-game revenue has yet to receive enough attention.

Does the Casino Industry in Missouri Even Need a Boost?

To be sure, it would be a stretch to say the casino industry in Missouri is dying. It’s not. Casino operators still enjoy month-over-month games.

However, the business is more volatile than ever. While Missouri casinos are reporting an uptick in revenue for October 2025, the industry was down as a whole for the 2024 calendar year. Beyond that, there are signs of issues in the physical table-and-slot-game business elsewhere.

The Encore Boston Harbor in Massachusetts is one of the best examples. When it opened, officials touted the casino’s ability to generate $800 million in annual gambling revenue. It has now been open for six years, and it has not yet hit that number.

Not even the famed Las Vegas Strip is immune to the shift. Their revenue is down significantly in 2025, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. While the NGCB has couched the findings by noting it is up 108 percent relative to the peak of the pandemic, this can be a misleading presentation. Casino revenues dropped to all-time lows amid the global pandemic because they had to close. Beating out those numbers isn’t as impressive now that the world has, for the most part, completely moved on.

Then again, this may understate the impact that the pandemic had on behavior. The world may be back to “normal”, but that normal now features more remote comforts than ever. More people work from home. More people get food delivered. More people subscribe to streaming services and are less likely to visit a movie theater. And yes, more people are likely to bet on sports online or play casino games online than ever before.

The Missouri Casino Industry will be Interesting to Monitor

This is all to say: Yes, The Show Me State’s casino industry could definitely use the boon Missouri sports betting is projected to bring. Whether it actually brings it, well, we will have to wait and see.

Trends take a while to form and then normalize. There will likely be a mad rush to casinos following the initial launch of Missouri sports betting. It will be new and novel.

Eventually, though, it will become more commonplace. At that point, bettors may resort to betting on sports using Missouri apps rather than visiting a casino. And again, this will not be the end of the world. Most casinos will have an app on which to capitalize themselves.

Still, the long-term numbers on casino foot traffic are important if the brick-and-mortar industry is to survive over the next few decades. The companies behind physical casinos may be recession-proof. Gambling isn’t going anywhere. But the method by which people gamble has changed forever. Missouri sports betting will eventually reflect as much. After all, over 95 percent of all bets placed in the United States are now believed to be processed on a mobile site.

If nothing else, though, the addition of physical sportsbooks gives brick-and-mortar casinos a feature they didn’t have before. This may not reinvent the brick-and-mortar gambling business altogether. But it should, at the very least, slow whatever demise the industry could be headed for—if it’s at risk of incurring one at all.

Take a look at this list of the top online sportsbooks so you can find one that works for all of your sports betting needs: