Normally, when it comes to Missouri sports betting news, things are pretty darn impressive. However, that wasn't the case for the month of August, which is surely going to have some officials a bit worried. That's right, Missouri's sports betting handle hit a record low this summer, with August providing stats that no one wanted to see. It will be interesting to see if a bounce-back month will get posted in September, but for now, there's worry.

According to released data, the October sports betting handle in Missouri was $207.5 million. It was reportedly the lowest number reached since sports betting was made legal in the state back in 2025. To make matters worse, that new low came after rough numbers in July as well. Normally, the summer months are quite strong for the state, especially with the Major League Baseball season in full swing. That wasn't the case in 2026, however. The July numbers in particular were alarming.

"According to figures published by the Missouri Gaming Commission, online sports betting accounted for $243.5 million of the overall handle, while retail sports betting generated $3.3 million," Yahoo wrote in a new piece. "Missouri betting revenue jumped 59.4% month over month from $13.7 million to $21.8 million. Sports wagering tax also rose 59.5% from June, increasing from $1.4 million to $2.2 million."

While the betting revenue continues to be impressive, the drop in the betting handle is worrisome. Could this be due to lowered interest in sports betting? That's on the table, but the growing popularity of prediction markets could be another reason why the numbers have dropped a bit. All in all, this kind of trend can't continue, but with football season here, might the numbers get back on track a bit moving forward?

The Kansas City Chiefs should help boost the handle numbers for Missouri betting

Focusing on just one team, it's safe to say that the Kansas City Chiefs should help boost the handle numbers for Missouri betting moving forward. Thus far this season, the Chiefs are playing at a high level once again, with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes looking like an MVP in throwing the football all over the field.

Because the Chiefs are undefeated and a perfect 5-0 on the year, the team's Super Bowl betting odds are no question on the rise. This is great since Kansas City failed to make the postseason last year. This is important for the state, because NFL betting interest climbs when the Chiefs are playing at such a high level.

With plenty of big-time games coming up on the schedule too, we're only going to see the handle go up for September, October, November and December - that's the hope at least. Should the Chiefs go on a deep postseason run, it's going to be fantastic for several different reasons. Only time will tell if that ends up happening or not, but things appear to be moving in the right direction here, which will only provide some relief for the betting statistics, and for officials as a whole.

A rough year for the St. Louis Cardinals definitely impacted MLB betting

As for the action on the diamond, a rough year for the St. Louis Cardinals definitely impacted MLB betting in a major way. St. Louis is a historic franchise, but the Cardinals did not live up to the hype this season, which was rough. With the World Series now here, it's going to be a battle between the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers to take home the Fall Classic. St. Louis was nowhere near getting to the final series.

St. Louis finished the year with a lowly 77-85 record, of course missing out on the playoffs. With the team struggling so poorly, it meant that the betting numbers on baseball were impacted as well. Once free agency arrives, it's going to be on the front office to sign some big-name players to bring some excitement back. There's simply no reason the Cardinals should not be in contention for the postseason each and every single year.

While this didn't happen this summer and fall, that's going to change next year. If it doesn't then it won't be a surprise at all if the betting numbers for both July and August are once again a bit down in the dumps. The Cardinals have no excuses once free agency gets here too, which will have a domino effect on betting as we know it for Missouri.