Judge to decide the fate of Missouri sports betting referendum

Missouri residents could find out about sports betting legalization in the state very soon

Will Missouri become the 39th U.S. state to legalize sports betting and the only one to do so in 2024?

What had been expected to be determined by statewide voters in November may now be up to a judge instead.

That’s because there is a hearing before Cole County Judge Cotton Walker on Thursday regarding whether supporters of the ballot question got enough confirmed signatures to allow the issue onto the ballot.

Back in May, Missouri’s professional sports franchises – most notably MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals and the NFL’s reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs – teamed up to help produce 340,000 signatures and presented them to the Missouri Secretary of State.

The standard necessary to do an “end-around” of a Missouri legislature that generally opposes sports betting legalization is to gain signatures of at least 8% of registered voters in a minimum of six of the state’s eight congressional districts. Winning for Missouri Education, the shrewdly-named committee of the sports teams, appeared to have succeeded – boosted by behind-the-scenes funding of more than $6 million from sportsbook giants DraftKings and FanDuel.

“In terms of the sports teams, I mean, some of us are from different sides of the state,” Cardinals executive Mike Whittle said at a press conference on the day the signatures were delivered. “We’re not necessarily on the same page on every issue, but this one we are on the same page and really appreciate the partnership and support.”

The new form of legal gambling is projected to bring in $5 million annually toward assisting compulsive gamblers and another $25 million per year for public schools. According to the language of the ballot question, the Missouri Gambling Commission would permit online sports betting by those aged 21 and older who are within state lines. The first legal bet would take place no later than Dec. 1, 2025, with a relatively modest 10% tax on sportsbook revenues.

Missouri surrounded by legal sportsbooks

The state’s residents live in close proximity to legal sports betting states Illinois, Iowa, Tennessee, Kansas, Arkansas and Kentucky. That inevitably means that some of those residents are sending tax dollars out of state via their wagers.

“Our fans get it,” Whittle said. “They see this revenue going outside of Missouri, and they ask the question, ‘Why can’t we keep it in Missouri?”

Clarification of the matter could come quickly because the state’s general election ballot cannot be changed after Sept. 10, according to the office of the Secretary of State.

The hearing before Judge Walker comes as opponents of sports betting claim that Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft was mistaken in certifying the petition for a statewide vote on Aug. 13.

If no decision is rendered by Sept. 10, then the question will remain on the ballot. Should Walker rule against Ashcroft between that time and the election, the ballot question would be irrelevant. If he does the same afterward, then apparent approval of legal sports betting – if that is what a majority of voters decided – would be invalidated.

The plaintiffs, Blake Lawrence and Jacqueline Wood, claim that the campaign to gain enough signatures was successful in only four congressional districts in the state, two short of the required number. The dispute centers around whether Ashcroft was required to review the total number of votes for Governor in 2020, multiply that number by the necessary 8%, and then divide the result equally among the eight districts, which were redrawn following the results of the U.S. census that year.

If the vote is allowed, Missouri residents can expect a torrent of advertising expressing support for the ballot measure. An Emerson College poll conducted in June found that 38% of state residents polled supported the concept, 35% opposed it, and a crucial 26% said they were undecided.

The other pro sports teams in the coalition are MLB’s Kansas City Royals, the NHL’s St. Louis Blues and MLS’ Kansas City Current and St. Louis City franchises.

The NFL, MLB, NHL, NCAA and NBA – which does not have a franchise in Missouri – spent six years in federal court trying to stop New Jersey from allowing Nevada-style sports betting at the state’s racetracks and its Atlantic City casinos.

But after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 ruled that any state may legalize sports betting, the four pro sports leagues have eagerly embraced the endeavor.

A different gambling question for Missouri voters

Whatever happens with the sports betting initiative, another judge ruled on Aug. 30 that a separate gambling referendum could move forward because enough signatures had been gathered once rejected names were further reviewed.

This vote will be regarding whether a new commercial riverboat casino could be constructed at the Lake of the Ozarks tourism area in central Missouri. If approved, the casino might compete with the Osage Nation tribe’s preliminary effort to build the state’s first tribal casino in the same area.

Bally’s, which already runs a casino in Kansas City, has led the financial support that landed the issue on the ballot. Missouri law currently caps the number of licensed casinos in the state to 13.