Missouri Sports Betting Crashes Into Senate Roadblock

Article By Steve Ruddock

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Steve is a gaming industry veteran with more than a decade of experience covering legal and legislative developments in the U.S. gambling sector. His primary focus is the ongoing legal and legislative developments in the U.S. and the convergence of terrestrial and online gaming.

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Last Updated: Mar 14^th, 2024

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This article incorrectly named Sen. Denny Hoskins as having read from a Ronald Reagan biography. It has been updated to cite Sen. Bill Eigel as the reader.

The Missouri Senate is exceptional at raising hopes before pulling the rug out. And that is precisely what it did to sports betting supporters on Wednesday.

The Senate’s abrupt decision to talk about sports betting on Wednesday buoyed hopes that something might finally get done in the Show-Me State. 

The House already passed a sports betting bill, and public and private chatter indicated sports betting supporters were ready to call Sen. Denny Hoskins VLT bluff. Hoskins' threats to amend the bill to death (claiming he had 150 amendments to propose) when VLTs were decoupled from sports betting derailed last year’s efforts. 

It All Comes Down to VLTs

Hoskins sat in the passenger’s seat for the debate’s first half, with Sen. Karla May talking for the pro-VLT side. Later, Sen. Bill Eigel did filibuster (reading Ronald Reagan’s biography) while intimating from where he would attack. Most notably, he pointed out that the revenue from sports betting is a “drop in the bucket” and doesn’t get the state any closer to funding veteran programs or gambling treatment initiatives. He argued VLTs would.

Throughout the eight-hour debate, it became clear that the initial hope was false. The pro-sports betting side continually referenced revenue going across state lines to neighboring states, with a focus on Kansas sports betting. Sen May provided her colleagues with a glimpse into their future should they try to push sports betting past opponents during a masterclass on how to filibuster without technically filibustering. 

May, a VLT supporter, scored a decisive victory early on when she proposed allowing sports betting kiosks in the same bars and restaurants she would like to see VLT machines placed. 

During the debate, May got fellow senators to noncommittally approve of the idea, before deftly shifting the discussion back to VLTs and rhetorically asking why one machine was OK and the other wasn’t. That opened the floodgates to accusations of special interests controlling the legislative body and sealed the bill’s fate for the time being. 

“I’m OK with sports betting. I think we should have it,” May said during yesterday’s debate. “The problem is the Legislature is so stubborn and so controlled by special interests.”

The Senate spent the remaining five hours irrationally altering a sports betting bill in a vain effort to reach a compromise. What emerged was a true Frankenstein’s monster that was unrecognizable from the House bill and had some wondering if it was better not to pass it than unleash it on Missouri.

And in a hot mic moment, Hoskins made it clear that he planned to filibuster.

What’s Next for Missouri?

No vote was taken, and the bill was placed on the informal calendar. The bill is active but is not scheduled for discussion.  

Time is running out in Missouri. The 2023 Senate session is scheduled to end on May 12. A special session could be held in September, but the hope is a solution will be found before mid-May. 

There is little evidence either side is willing to give an inch. The pro-VLT made it clear it would filibuster for as long as needed, and the pro-sports betting group voted down an amendment that would have capped VLTs at three per venue (a very modest proposal). 

And a compromise is what is needed, as the road to legal sports betting in Missouri is inaccessible without dealing with VLTs. 

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Steve is a gaming industry veteran with more than a decade of experience covering legal and legislative developments in the U.S. gambling sector. His primary focus is the ongoing legal and legislative developments in the U.S. and the convergence of terrestrial and online gaming.

Read Full Bio

Steve Ruddock

Last Updated:   Mar 14^th, 2024

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