Will Sports Betting Be Live In Missouri In Time For Royals Vs. Cardinals?

With the MLB regular season only weeks away, questions remain about whether sports betting will be live in Missouri in time for this year’s I-70 games between the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals.

Last November, Missouri voters narrowly approved a ballot measure legalizing in-person and mobile sports betting statewide. For betting to begin, the Missouri Gaming Commission still needs to grant licenses to sports betting operators and finalize betting rules.

Missouri Gaming Commission Chairwoman Jan Zimmerman has said authorities anticipate legal sports betting will begin by mid-to-late June.

I-70 Games Set For Late May, Early June

If Zimmerman’s prediction is accurate, bettors in Missouri will miss out on the rivalry games between the American League’s Royals and the National League’s Cardinals.

The Royals host the Cardinals in interleague play from May 16-18. The two teams meet again June 3-5 in St. Louis.

Both teams play in stadiums near neighboring states where sports betting is legal. St. Louis is across the Mississippi River from Illinois, while Kansas City is on the Kansas-Missouri state line.

Sports betting is legal in seven of the eight states that border Missouri, with Oklahoma being the only neighbor without legal sports betting. Gary Jenkins, an attorney and former Kansas City Police Department intelligence detective, noted during an episode of Gambling.com’s “The Edge” that  Missourians typically cross into neighboring states to bet on sports.

States Target Major Events To Launch Sports Betting

Across the country, some states that legalize sports betting try to set a launch date prior to a major event. 

For instance, former Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Johns targeted key NFL games to launch Louisiana sports betting. In Louisiana, college and pro football are deeply embedded in the culture, as Major League Baseball is in Missouri.

In North Carolina, where college basketball attracts major attention and stirs emotions, authorities gave the go-ahead for North Carolina sports betting to begin in time for the NCAA March Madness tournament.