Missouri Sports Betting Bill to be Heard in Senate this Week

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Missouri Sports Betting Bill to be Heard in Senate this Week

A bill to legalize sports betting in Missouri is set to be heard this week in a Senate committee.

State Rep. Dan Houx, R-Warrensburg, told Gambling.com that House Bill 2502 is scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. hearing on Wednesday in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The meeting in scheduled to be held in Senate Committee Room 2 in Jefferson City.

Sports Betting Approved in Missouri House Last Month

On March 23, the Missouri House of Representatives approved the sports betting bill on a 115-35 vote. Houx is the bill’s primary sponsor.

Any bill, including HB2502, must be approved by the full House and Senate, not just in committees, before going to Republican Gov. Mike Parson for his consideration.

Mobile Sports Betting Included in Legislation

Under HB2502, in-person sports betting would be legal inside the 13 Missouri casinos and on mobile apps throughout the state. The tax rate on gaming revenue would be 8%.

Earlier this year, the state’s casinos and professional sports teams joined together in supporting statewide sports betting.

The sports teams include the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals, and the NHL’s St. Louis Blues.

Missouri Residents Wager in Neighboring States

The sports betting bill’s supporters contend Missouri residents are crossing the state line to wager on sports where it is legal.

Sports betting is permitted in four of the eight states bordering Missouri. The legal states are Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Sports wagering has been legalized but is not operational in a fifth neighboring state, Nebraska.

In the other three bordering states — online sportsbooks in Kansas, Oklahoma and Kentucky — legislation has been under consideration in each statehouse this year.

While a key legislator in Oklahoma has said approval of sports betting this year is unlikely, the Senate in Kentucky is expected to take up the issue when lawmakers return from a break next week.

In Kansas, legislators could take a sports betting measure under consideration when they return to the Capitol in Topeka on April 25.

Across the country, sports betting is legal and live in 30 states and Washington, D.C. It is legal but not operational in three other states. Those states are Nebraska, Ohio and Florida.