DraftKings Signs $3.5M Check to Back Missouri Sports Betting PAC

DraftKings last week plowed $3.5 million into a political action committee (PAC) pushing for legal sports betting in Missouri.

The Boston-based betting giant’s largesse came just three days after the PAC, Winning for Missouri Education (WME), succeeded in getting an initiative on the November 5 ballot.

The proposed measure will ask voters whether they want to approve a constitutional amendment to legalize both land-based and online sports betting.

Under the proposal, the first $5 million a year in state taxes from sports betting would go toward efforts to combat problem gambling, while the rest would be funneled into public education.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) announced Tuesday that the signature-gathering campaign had met the threshold to qualify for the ballot, with some 171,592 validated signees.

Will Missouri Vote for Sports Betting?

Will Missourians back sports betting on November 5? The polls are all over the place. A study by Saint Louis University and YouGov found that 60% of respondents are in favor, while another one in June by Emerson College put the figure at just 38%.

Campaign spokesman Jack Cardetti told The St Louis Post-Dispatch that DraftKings’ sudden cash injection would be used for educating Missourians about the initiative.

Now that we are officially on the ballot, we’ll be over the next two and a half months talking to Missourians across the state about why it makes sense to set up a legal sports betting framework that helps public education,” Cardetti said.

If approved by voters, the measure would authorize the Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) to issue sports betting licenses to the state’s 13 riverboat casinos. Professional sports stadiums and arenas would also be eligible to apply for a license. Additionally, up to two online operators would be permitted to apply.

Pro Sports on Board

It’s clearly enough to have whet DraftKings’ appetite. It’s estimated that a future Missouri sports betting market could be worth $290 million annually. Based on that figure, the blanket 10% tax proposed by the amendment would generate $29 million for state coffers in addition to $11.75 million in licensing fees.

“On behalf of all six of Missouri’s professional sports teams, I would like to thank everyone who signed a petition to get this on the ballot. A vote for Amendment 2 in November is the right thing to do for both Missouri public schools and our favorite sports teams,” said Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III in a statement.