Missouri Sports Betting Pool Includes Three Bids for Two Untethered Licenses
Posted on: July 17, 2025, 11:51h.
Last updated on: July 17, 2025, 12:55h.
- Two fully remote sportsbooks are coming to Missouri
- FanDuel, DraftKings, and Circa Sports are bidding for the two licenses
- Sports betting begins in the Show-Me State on Dec. 1, 2025
The Missouri sports betting licenses that are fully remote concessions not tethered to a casino or professional sports facility will be awarded next month. The Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) confirms that it received three bids for the two available permits.
The state gaming regulator says FanDuel and DraftKings were early applicants for the two mobile sportsbook licenses that were made available through Amendment 2, a statewide ballot referendum that altered the Missouri Constitution to allow gambling on professional and college sports. Amendment 2 passed by fewer than 3,000 votes during the November 2024 election.
Only hours before the online bidding deadline on Tuesday, July 15, Circa Sports threw its candidacy into the pool with DraftKings and FanDuel.
The MGC will announce the two winners on August 15. For all other retail and mobile sports wagering licenses, applications are due by September 12. Those concessions will be granted in time for the state’s launch of sports betting on Dec. 1, 2025.
Online Licenses Come With Advantages
Missouri’s sports betting law provides each casino and the Show-Me State’s six professional sports teams — the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, MLB’s Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals, the NWSL’s Kansas City Current, the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, and MLS’ St. Louis Soccer Club — to apply for up to two online sportsbook licenses and a retail permit. For leading online sportsbook firms, the necessity of partnering with a physical casino or sports venue means less net win of their sports wagering revenue.
A tethered online sportsbook shares a portion of its revenue with its physical casino partner. It’s why DraftKings and FanDuel are betting on securing one of the two untethered concessions.
Missouri’s sports betting law requires that mobile licenses pay an annual $500K fee. Retail licenses are $250K. Regardless of where the bet is made, oddsmakers will direct 10% of their win to the state — an attractive rate that’s far below the national sports betting tax of around 19%.
The MGC will consider the three direct mobile license applications and award them based on seven criteria. They include the applicant’s expertise in sports wagering, corporate integrity, operational history, advertising and promotional plans, ability to generate, maximize, and sustain revenues for the state, commitment to responsible play, and capacity to increase the number of bettors on its platform.
Penn Entertainment will likely tether its ESPN Bet platform to the company’s Hollywood Casino St. Louis, while Caesars Sportsbook will be an affiliate of Horseshoe St. Louis. MGM Resorts doesn’t have a casino in Missouri, which is why the company partnered with Century Casinos in May to secure its online sports betting entry.
Attractive Market
Along with a low online sports betting tax, sportsbooks are bullish on Missouri for several other reasons.
Not only is the sports-obsessed state home to more than 6.2 million people, but Missouri borders Illinois, where lawmakers recently imposed a per-bet surcharge that could make available odds worse in the state and cause some Illinoisans to take their business into Missouri.
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