The number of people who want sports betting in Missouri has steadily, if not exponentially, been on the rise over the past year. Even political officials have felt comfortable speaking out in support of it—during an election year no less. But do you know who really wants it? Missouri bettors.
Of course, when it comes to the future of sports betting in the Show-Me State, the lion's share of that attention is paid to government officials. That makes sense. They have the most sway on the matter, at least initially. And for the time being, it seems like many of the top officials are in favor of it.
Most recently, Missouri Mayor Quinton Lucas called out the failure to legalize sports betting this calendar year. His sentiments echoed those from Missouri State Senator Holly Thompson, who said earlier this year that the absence of online sports betting was "ridiculous."
Still, at the end of the day, this issue is about Missouri sports bettors, and about how much they want gambled to be legalized. And while their voices will carry the most weight if and when the issue eventually makes a major election ballot, they are already speaking volumes following the legalization of sports betting in Kansas.
Plenty of Missouri Bettors Tried to Wager on Sports in Kansas
Kansas opened their legal sports betting doors at the start of September. When the rollout was made official, they had bettors flocking to mobile, online and in-person sportsbooks in droves. And apparently, that includes Missouri bettors.
When the first Kansas sports betting results came in, more than 15,000 people from Missouri attempted to place wagers in Kansas during the first two days of the state's rollout. Here's what Jonathan Katz found out on the matter for Fox in Kansas City:
"The company GeoComply confirms 16,000 people tried to make a bet in Missouri on Thursday, but were blocked because they weren’t in Kansas. Of those people, 60% of them were in Kansas City, Missouri...Alex Gold, who hosts a new sports betting show on 610 Sports, said he’s 'cautiously optimistic' sports betting will get passed in Missouri next year. 'People in St. Louis have been going over to Illinois,' he added. 'People in the Kansas City area on the Missouri side have been going up to Iowa if that was something that they wanted to do.'"
This data is huge when it comes to proof of concept. Opponents of sports betting in Missouri have argued for so long the interest wouldn't be that widespread, even though the state houses teams in three of the four biggest pro sports leagues in North America. This news directly contradicts that notion. Having 16,000 people attempt to place online sports bets over a 48-hour span in a separate state amounts to a gargantuan number. Mind you, that total has no doubt only climbed in the past few weeks.
Kansas Could Push Missouri to Legalize Sports Betting
Missouri bettors were no doubt disappointed when their sign-up attempts were bounced back. In the interim, they have workarounds. Both Iowa and Illinois are only short drives away, and the same goes for Kansas. There are also plenty of sites from our reviews of the top online sportsbooks that won't reject attempts to register accounts and start placing wagers.
Granted, none of this is the endgame. People in Missouri don't want to constantly be searching for alternatives. They want to bet on sports in their home state. Fortunately for them, it sounds like the legalization of gambling will soon reach the top of Missouri's to-do list.
Per Fox 4: "Republican State Senator Caleb Rowden and the future top lawmaker of the chamber says sports betting is a priority of his next legislative session," in large part because Kansas pushed it through.
Anyone who has followed this issue knows Missouri and Kansas are in competition to woo the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, who currently reside in the Show-Me State. Legalizing sports betting would go a long way toward Missouri keeping them.
Missouri Bettors Still Need to Sit Tight
The natural next question for this matter: What's the timeline for legal sports betting in Missouri?
Without an officially approved bill in place, it's tough to say. However, unlike other states, the Missouri legislative sessions don't take place every other year. They met in the spring of 2022 and are currently scheduled to meet again in the spring of 2023. If they are able to pass a sports betting bill at that time, they will have no problem getting the initiative on the state's next major ballot in 2024. They could also elevate it to a more urgent priority and seek to vote on it before then.
More likely than not, Missouri won't get a sports betting bill out to their residents before 2024. But passing in 2023 has its advantages. Most notably, Missouri would be able to expedite the setup process, so that in the event voters approve sports betting in 2024, they will be able to roll it out that same year.
Perhaps it's best to frame the issue of Missouri sports betting this way: Given how much Missouri bettors seem to want it, we believe it'll get green lit during the next legislative sessions.
And if that happens, then legal sports betting should hit Missouri no later than 2025.
Take a look at this list of the top online sportsbooks so you can find which one to use for all of your sports betting needs:
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