Missouri Sports Betting Bidding Begins, Two Licenses Reserved for Fully Remote Books
Posted on: May 15, 2025, 11:41h.
Last updated on: May 15, 2025, 12:18h.
- Missouri is fielding sports betting applications
- Each casino can operate an online and physical sportsbook
- Missourians authorized sports betting during the 2024 election
The Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) has officially opened its bidding period for online and retail sports betting licenses roughly six months after state voters narrowly authorized the new gambling format.
During the November 2024 election, Missourians passed Amendment 2 to legalize gambling on professional and college sports by fewer than 3,000 votes. The outcome amended the Missouri Constitution to permit in-person and online sports betting within the state’s borders for persons aged 21 and older.
Today, the MGC opened its sports betting license application window. Sportsbooks seeking one of the two fully online sportsbook concessions must submit their bids by July 15, 2025. The state gaming regulator will consider the submissions and hear from the potential operators during a meeting scheduled for August 13 and award the licenses two days later on August 15.
For all other retail and mobile sportsbook licenses, applications are due by September 12, with qualified applicants receiving permits beginning on December 1.
Start Date Unknown
While the MGC detailed how the application process for sports betting will be conducted, the agency didn’t specify when legal bets might begin.
Amendment 2 allows each of the state’s 13 casinos to pursue retail and online sports betting privileges for a total of two skins, or operations. Physical sportsbook licenses cost $250K and mobile licenses cost $500K.
Missouri will tax oddsmakers’ gross revenue at 10% and direct the money to K-12 public education. The first $5 million a year in sports betting taxes each year is reserved for the Missouri Compulsive Gambling Prevention Fund.
Caesars Entertainment, which runs three casinos in Missouri — Harrah’s North Kansas City, Horseshoe St. Louis, and Isle of Capri Boonville — spent almost $14 million opposing Amendment 2 on its belief that the state shouldn’t allow two fully remote sportsbooks to operate without a physical investment in the Show-Me State. Caesars is expected to bid for one of the two fully remote licenses with its Caesars Sportsbook to limit the number of mobile sportsbook competitors.
Along with Caesars, casino operators allowed to pursue online and retail sportsbook licenses include Affinity Interactive, Bally’s Corp., Boyd Gaming, Century Casinos, and Penn Entertainment.
In 2024, Missouri casino revenue totaled $1.88 billion, which represented a 2% year-over-year drop. State officials estimate that Missouri sports bettors will wager more than $3 billion a year to generate revenue of more than a quarter of a billion dollars annually for oddsmakers.
39th Sports Betting State
When legal sports betting goes live, Missouri will become the 39th state where gambling on sports is regulated. Missouri is bordered by eight states — Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska — which all have legal sports betting.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) reported this week that sports bettors lost almost $13.8 billion to sportsbooks in 2024. Online sportsbooks are regulated in 33 states, with six states only allowing in-person betting — Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington.
Washington, DC, which has retail and online sports betting, is the 40th sports betting jurisdiction in the nation.
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