Missouri sports betting will launch on Dec. 1, 2025. We cover the latest updates on Missouri sportsbooks ahead of their launch.
Legalized | Nov. 4, 2024 (through Amendment 2) |
Confirmed Launch Date | Dec. 1, 2025 |
Application Window | May 15 to Sept. 12 |
Legal Age | 21+ |
Tax Rate | 10% |
Revenue Allocation | Education, Problem Gambling Support |
No. of Licenses | Up to 21 |
License Fees | $250K for retail, $500K for mobile |
Regulatory Body | Missouri Gaming Commission |
After voters passed Constitutional Amendment 2, online sportsbooks and retail betting in Missouri will go live on Dec. 1, 2025. The Sports Betting Initiative amendment was on Missouri's November 5, 2024, ballot after hundreds of thousands of petitioners lobbied to add it.
The Missouri Gaming Commission is accepting applications for sports betting licenses through Sept. 12, 2025. MGC Chairman Jan Zimmerman confirmed to Gambling.com that sports betting will go live in the state on Dec. 1, 2025.
In the spring of 2025, the MGC tried to expedite the launch through emergency legislative powers. However, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a critic of Missouri sports betting since he was a state senator, rejected that emergency statute, arguing it didn't meet the appropriate criteria. So, the regulatory process was pushed back several months.
The first licenses to be awarded will be untethered direct mobile licenses, which are not tied to any retail casino or pro team. FanDuel, DraftKings, and Circa Sports have applied for one of the two untethered licenses. The commission will announce those license holders on Aug. 15.
The rest of the retail and mobile applications will be decided in September.
There are up to 21 possible licenses allowed under Amendment 2, and there are three different types of licenses available:
Retail license fees cost $250K, while mobile licenses are $500K.
Through its application process, the Missouri Gaming Commission will award licenses all at once, not on a rolling basis.
Sportsbooks will be taxed at 10%.
Proponents estimate that Missouri sports betting will generate $3.4 billion in handle in its first year of operation, $47.5 million in taxable revenue, and $4.7 million in taxes.
However, the state estimates it could generate between $0 and $28.9 million in tax revenue annually. Because the proposal allows for deductions against revenues, sportsbooks can write off losses taken on promotional spending up to 25%.
These estimates have been the subject of much debate, as some, like the Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Agreement, argue that revenue estimates cannot be accurate and will fall short of projections.
Because of existing relationships, we can project the operators that will come to Missouri. At present, you can legally wager at over a dozen licensed casinos. Some companies that own casinos in Missouri also own sports betting platforms.
Sportsbook | Partner | Status |
---|---|---|
Bally Bet | Bally's Kansas City (expected) | Application hasn't been submitted yet |
bet365 | St. Louis Cardinals (confirmed) | Partnered in March; application hasn't been submitted yet |
BetMGM | Century Casinos (confirmed) | Partnered in May; application hasn't been submitted yet |
Caesars | Harrah's KC, Isle of Capri Boonville, and/or Horseshoe St. Louis (expected) | Application hasn't been submitted yet |
DraftKings | Untethered mobile license | Applied before July 15 deadline |
ESPN BET | Hollywood Casino St. Louis, Rivery City, and/or Argosy (expected) | Application hasn't been submitted yet |
FanDuel | Untethered mobile license | Applied before July 15 deadline |
Underdog | TBD | Applied before July 15 deadline |
You can place bets through mobile Missouri betting apps as soon as legal online sports betting is launched.
Our Gambling.com Overall Score for FanDuel: 9.1/10
FanDuel Missouri applied for an untethered mobile license before the July 15 deadline.
According to 2025 financial forecasts, FanDuel has been planning a Missouri launch for the last few months. FanDuel contributed millions of dollars to the Winning for Missouri Education political action committee to get sports betting on the 2024 ballot.
Our Gambling.com Overall Score for DraftKings: 8.9/10
DraftKings has applied for an online sports betting license, per the MGC. In 2024, DraftKings contributed millions to the Winning for Missouri Education PAC.
Our Gambling.com Overall Score for bet365: 8.9/10
In March 2025, bet365 Missouri was announced as a sports betting partner of the St. Louis Cardinals, granting the sportsbook de facto access to Missouri's market.
Our Gambling.com Overall Score for BetMGM: 8.6/10
BetMGM Missouri will be partnering with Century Casino & Hotel in Cape Girardeau for Missouri market access.
The team has supported legalized sports betting in Missouri and has had a marketing deal with the Chiefs. Team president Mark Donovan signed a full-page ad in the Kansas City Star urging voters to approve the ballot initiative.
Our Gambling.com Overall Score for ESPN BET: 8.2/10
PENN Entertainment expects to launch the ESPN BET sportsbook in Missouri this year. The company already operates several retail casinos in the state, which could give it easier access to the sports betting market.
Our Gambling.com Overall Score for BetRivers: 8.0/10
Rush Street Interactive CEO Richard Schwartz hinted at it. While speaking at the fourth annual Needham Consumer Tech and Ecommerce Conference, Schwartz said the company, which owns the BetRivers Sportsbook product, is preparing for the launch of Missouri sports betting.
In February 2022, Schwartz announced that RSI had preemptively gained market access in Ohio, Maryland, and Missouri through a deal with Penn National, so we'll have to see if that agreement still holds three years later.
Our Gambling.com Overall Score for DraftKings: 7.1/10
Caesars Entertainment owns several casinos in Missouri already, including Isle of Capri Boonville Casino and Horseshoe St. Louis. It would make sense for Caesars Sportsbook Missouri to launch an online sportsbook here. It remains to be seen what kind of impact Caesars' support for the Winning for Missouri education’s opposition campaign will have.
Our Gambling.com Overall Score for Underdog: Not yet available
Underdog has applied for an online sports betting license, per the MGC. We're still trying to find out who Underdog's prospective partner would be. An Underdog Fantasy rep had previously confirmed the company would apply.
Founder and CEO Jeremy Levine has not been shy about Underdog's sports betting expansion goals, so we could see this fantasy provider come to the Show Me State.
Our Gambling.com Overall Score for Bally Bet: Not yet available
Bally Bet is the online sportsbook arm of the Bally's Corporation, which operates the Bally's Kansas City Casino. Brick-and-mortar casinos are expected to be awarded licenses to partner with online sports betting licenses, which could give Bally Bet de facto market access.
Bally Bet already operates in several states, including nearby Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, and Tennessee.
The state constitution of Missouri previously only made provisions for pari-mutuel horse racing betting. Amendment 2 was introduced to change the constitution to allow online and retail sports betting.
The amendment directs the Missouri Gaming Commission to oversee sports betting in the state and requires it to go live by Dec. 1, 2025, at the latest. The amendment sets the tax rate on sports betting operators at 10%, funding public education and compulsive gambling prevention.
The amendment notably does not include any language regulating Video Lottery Terminals, which had long been a sticking point for Hoskins. Instead, it allows one "skin" (or mobile license) per operator.
Allow the Missouri Gaming Commission to regulate licensed sports wagering including online sports betting, gambling boats, professional sports betting districts, and mobile licenses to sports betting operators
The road to legal sports betting in Missouri has been a long one. A key issue was whether video gaming terminals (VGTs), or video lottery terminals (VLTs), should be legalized alongside sports betting. Casinos oppose VGTs because they argue they function like slot machines without adhering to gaming regulations, and getting Missouri casinos to support a sports betting proposal is crucial.
Former state senator and current Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has been at the center of it all, including the recent events of 2024 and 2025.
In January, organizers filed paperwork with the Missouri Ethics Commission to form the Winning for Missouri Education PAC. By April, the PAC had accumulated over 340,000 signatures (they were only required to get 180,000 to present to the secretary of state's office) to add a constitutional amendment to the 2024 state ballot to legalize sports betting.
In August, then-Secretary of State John Ashcroft declared the sports betting initiative had sufficient signatures to appear on the ballot.
However, a Cole County Circuit Court lawsuit was filed to block the initiative from the November ballot, alleging that the petition was unconstitutional. To make the ballot in Missouri, proposal petitions must receive signatures from 8% of legal voters in six congressional districts. The suit argued that the proposal didn’t use newly redrawn districts following the 2020 U.S. Census, so it did not meet the required number of signatures. The lawsuit was dismissed in September.
In the lead-up to Election Day, Winning for Missouri Education gained bipartisan support in the state senate and endorsements from the Kansas City Star and St. Louis Dispatch. The amendment also had strong backing from Missouri's professional sports teams, including the Kansas City Chiefs, the Kansas City Royals, and Sporting KC.
Amendment 2 passed with 50.12% of the vote in favor. Amendment 5, which would have authorized a new casino in the Lake of the Ozarks, failed, with 52.5% opposing the measure.
Per the Missouri Ethics Commission, Winning for Missouri Education received $43.05 million in contributions, which set a record for campaign fundraising. FanDuel and DraftKings contributed $20.525 million each, and Missouri's six pro sports teams contributed just under $2M.
In early February, the House Emerging Issues Committee heard HB 556, which included familiar language: a 10% tax rate, a deduction on promotional costs, rights to major sports teams to control sportsbook advertising around their stadiums, three skins per casino, and one per sports team.
Later that month, the Senate Appropriations Committee heard testimony on three bills: SB 30, which would legalize online sports betting; SB 192, which would legalize VGTs; and SB 1 (filed by Hoskins), which would allow both. All three bills included sports betting provisions similar to the House bills.
Hoskins again staged a filibuster after the Appropriations Committee, of which he was a member, failed SB 1 in a 10-2 vote.
In March, the House passed HB 556 118-35, and it was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee. However, no hearings or further readings were scheduled in the Senate, so the bill died at the end of the legislative session.
A coalition that includes Missouri's pro sports teams, land-based casinos, and national operators got momentum behind HB 2502. The bill included a 10% tax rate on sportsbooks, a deduction on welcome offer promotional costs, rights to major sports teams to control sportsbook advertising around their stadiums, three skins per casino, and one license per sports team.
Tax revenue would go towards state education programs and casino host cities.
It was approved and amended by several House committees, but faced roadblocks in the Senate. In April, Hoskins led a filibuster for nearly four hours to delay a vote on the Senate floor because the proposals did not include provisions for VLTs.
After blocking the bill, Hoskins agreed to craft new legislation that included a higher 15% tax rate and a $1.25 million annual fee per platform, excluding VGTs. That latest version, however, faced scrutiny from Sen. Bill White, who questioned the actual economic impact of sports betting. In response, Hoskins withdrew the new bill.
Stakeholders reportedly disagreed on application fees and casino buy-in, among other issues. The legislative session ended with no action on a sports betting bill.
During this session, some lawmakers started to discuss a constitutional or electoral solution to the sports betting issue in Missouri.
At the start of the 2021 legislative session, some measures were introduced to legalize sports betting in person and online: SB 18 and SB 256. Hoskins was a strong proponent of legalizing online sports betting, but only if the measure included VLTs.
These bills are all referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Hoskins had been a member since 2018, but they stall out.
Legislators introduced six bills to legalize sports betting, which included provisions like remote registration and royalty fees for wagers involving pro sports leagues and the NCAA. However, the COVID-19 pandemic halted progress on legislation that year.
HB 199, establishing sports wagering in Missouri, was introduced and referred to the Missouri House General Laws Committee. The bill established an 8% tax rate and $10,000 application fee, but would have allowed leagues to require operators to use official data in settling any bet unrelated to the final score.
In committee, it was amended to include an integrity fee of 0.25% of handle for pro sports leagues and state universities, and another 0.6% fee to fund the upkeep of Missouri sports stadiums. The committee voted to recommend it to the House floor in a 7-3 vote, but it didn't get there before the end of the 2019 legislative session.
A bipartisan Special Interim Committee on Gaming convened in October to determine how to produce a competitive sports betting product in Missouri. At the time, committee chairman Dan Shaul said all members wanted mobile betting without in-person registration, no limits, no integrity fee, and no league data mandate.
Rep. Bart Korman introduced HB 2320 to create a Missouri Gaming Commission to oversee sports betting. In anticipation of a Supreme Court ruling, state Rep. Dean Plocher introduced House Bill 2535, and Hoskins introduced SB 1013 to legalize sports betting. The latter bills would allow sports betting online and in-person on Missouri riverboats, while allowing leagues to control official data.
HB 2535 lost steam in its committee hearing, and SB 1013 never made it that far.
By a 6-3 vote, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the PASPA statute that makes sports betting illegal on the federal level is unconstitutional. Any state that wants to legalize the activity is free to do so.
Pre-launch offers usually revolve around the sign-up bonus offered after sites go live. Missouri sportsbooks will offer bonus bets, deposit match welcome bonuses, and other introductory sports betting bonuses. Sites often advertise special events like the Super Bowl and March Madness to hype up bettors.
Many sites have loyalty programs that allow you to generate points or credits based on the play volume. You can move up the tier ladder and earn better rewards if you wager consistently on a particular site.
All these operators accept credit cards, so state-of-the-art encryption methods are utilized. You can rest assured that your sensitive information will be safe and secure at licensed sportsbooks.
We have given you a rundown of the top Missouri sportsbooks that will likely be up and running when online gambling in Missouri is legal. These companies with unlimited resources have highly competent people designing and maintaining their web presence.
All the sites are intuitive and user-friendly, so you will immediately understand how to make your bets. The aesthetics are a matter of taste, but they all have their appeal in one way or another. You will find that the user experience is quite positive with these betting apps and websites.
There is more than one reason to open multiple sports betting accounts. The odds offered at each operator are not the same for every market. When you have several accounts, you can shop around for the best odds for the bet you want to make at any given time.
It’s a win-win situation because you get the sign-up bonuses and learn about new promo offers. Over a large sample size, if you always get favorable odds, it will make a difference in your bottom line.
Customer service is another matter. The quality of the assistance you receive will vary, and the individual agent you communicate with is part of the equation.
These are very profitable, publicly traded companies, so you can expect to be treated fairly at all the licensed sportsbooks. You no longer have to roll the dice with sketchy offshore sportsbooks that operate in a gray area with no regulatory oversight.
Signing up with and using Missouri sportsbooks will be easy. I'll explain what to expect during the sign-up process and betting markets to explore.
Missouri sports betting sites will use geolocation software to pinpoint your location when you sign up, and you must be in the state at the time.
After successfully opening the account, you must still be in the state when you make wagers.
Pre-registration should be offered for Missouri sports betting sites. As we have touched upon, we will monitor the situation and pass along the online sportsbook promo codes when pre-registration becomes available.
Following the national trend, NFL and college football will undoubtedly be Missouri's most significant betting markets. Bettors will be able to wager on the three-time Super Bowl champion Chiefs in Missouri for the first time.
Reports indicate that betting on college sports will be allowed in Missouri.
MLB Teams: Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals
Missouri has two MLB teams with fervent fanbases: the Royals and the Cardinals. Some sites may even have special seasonal MLB promotions or partnerships within their stadiums.
Though the U.S. is not typically known for a love of soccer, Missouri might be a rare exception, with three professional teams calling the state home. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is a part owner of Sporting KC and the Kansas City Current (his wife, Brittany, is also a part owner of the latter).
NHL Teams: St. Louis Blues
Missouri fans love their hockey—and they love the Blues. In 2019, St. Louis won its first and only Stanley Cup.
DFS pick'em and social sportsbooks are legal in Missouri. The Missouri Gaming Commission sent cease-and-desist letters to daily fantasy operators to stop against-the-house pick’em contests. However, the state still allows peer-to-peer fantasy contests.
Then-Governor Jay Nixon signed House Bill 1941 to legalize DFS sites in June 2016.
This is a list of the operators that the Missouri Gaming Commission has licensed: PrizePicks, DraftKings, FanDuel, FastDraft, Fantasy Football Players Championship, OwnersBox, RealTime Fantasy Sports, CDM Sports, Underdog Sports, Yahoo Fantasy Sports, Fanball, and StatHero.
Horse racing betting sites have been legal under 313.660 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, but only within the confines of a licensed racetrack. The only problem is that Missouri has no tracks, and online sports betting platforms cannot accept MO residents.
Missouri riverboat casinos have a long history in the state. Proposition A, passed in 1992, authorized riverboat gambling on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
There are already 13 casinos operating in Missouri, which offer table games, slots, restaurants, bars, and live entertainment on riverboats.
Casino | Address | Features |
---|---|---|
Argosy | 777 NW Argosy Casino Pkwy. Riverside, MO 64150 | First riverboat in Kansas City, now permanently docked, with 1,500+ slots, & 30+ table games across 62K sq. ft. |
Harrah's Kansas City | 1 Riverboat Dr. North Kansas City, MO 64116 | 60K sq.-ft. casino floor, 1,100+ slots, video keno, & WSOP Poker Room |
Bally's Kansas City | 1800 E. Front St. Kansas City, MO 64120 | Nearly 900 slots & 20+ table games |
Ameristar Kansas City | 3200 North Ameristar Dr. Kansas City, MO 64161 | 5K sq.-ft. casino floor, 2,800 gaming machines, dozens of table games, & 15 live poker tables |
Isle of Capri Boonville | 100 Isle of Capri Blvd. Boonville, MO 65233 | 29K sq.-ft. gaming floor with 15 table games, slots, & poker |
Horseshoe St. Louis | 999 N. 2nd St. St. Louis, MO 63102 | 1,100 slots, 33 table games, and 10 poker tables connected to Four Seasons St. Louis |
River City | 777 River City Casino Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63125 | 56-acre construction with a 90K sq.-ft. floor, 2,000+ slot machines, & 50+ gaming tables |
Hollywood Casino St. Louis | 777 Casino Center Dr. Maryland Heights, MO 63043 | 1,600+ slots, 45+ table games, & poker |
Ameristar St. Charles | 1 Ameristar Blvd. St. Charles, MO 63301 | 1,700+ slots, poker room with USB charging stations, & table games |
Mark Twain Casino | 104 Pierce St. La Grange, MO 63448 | 400+ slots, video poker |
St. Jo Frontier Casino | 777 Winners Circle St. Joseph, MO 64505 | Table games, 400+ slots and video poker games |
Century Casino & Hotel Caruthersville | 777 E. 3rd St. Caruthersville, MO 63830 | Slots, video poker, & table games |
Century Casino & Hotel Cape Girardeau | 777 Main St. Cape Girardeau, MO 63701 | Slots, video poker, table games, & poker room |
Even though sports betting isn’t legal in Missouri yet, the state already has a strong commitment to responsible gambling practices, thanks to its casinos. Missouri casinos follow the American Gaming Association’s Responsible Gaming Code of Conduct, which pledges to prevent underage gambling, serve alcohol responsibly, advertise responsibly, and provide oversight.
You can sign up for Missouri’s voluntary List of Disassociated Persons (also known as the Problem Gambling list) online or in person.
You can contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline any time: