Thursday is a big day for Missouri sports betting as the state’s Gaming Commission has made the applications for operator licenses available in the Show Me State. However, despite the big step, there’s still more work to be completed before Missourians can place a wager through a licensed app in their own state.
The announcement on the license applications, which was posted to the MGC’s website on Wednesday, came a day after the commissioners voted to formally approve the agency’s rules for overseeing sports betting. However, some amended regulations will still need to go through a public review process that will start next month.
Missouri Sports Betting Next Steps
The first licenses that will be awarded are the standalone mobile-only licenses that will go to Missouri sportsbook apps operators not tied to a casino or Missouri pro sports team partner. Those applications will be due July 15, and those seeking the two available standalone licenses can make a presentation to the MGC at its Aug. 13 meeting.
The commission expects to award those licenses two days later.
Other applicants seeking that are partnering with a sports team, such as the St. Louis Cardinals or Kansas City Chiefs, have until Sept. 12 to submit their applications. That’s the deadline the MGC gives for anyone wanting “to offer sports wagering beginning on December 1, 2025.”
That’s the start-by date included in the constitutional amendment Missouri voters passed in November.
Several sports betting operators have already announced their intention to seek a license in Missouri, including FanDuel, ESPN BET and BetMGM – they would also most likely offer Missouri sportsbook promo codes as incentives for signing up.
Few Missouri Retail Sportsbooks Expected Outside Casinos
One national trend that is likely to carry into Missouri is the lack of brick-and-mortar sportsbooks offered by eligible sports teams. During Tuesday’s meeting, it was revealed that the commission only expects two teams to offer a retail sports betting location.
“We made that assumption and estimate based on conversations with the different sports teams regarding their plans for a retail location,” MGC Deputy Director Nikki Evans said. “We anticipate that mobile will be much more popular and widely utilized, whereas a retail sportsbook location with all of the requirements that are part of that are going to be, I guess, less popular.”
In Ohio, sports teams can operate brick-and-mortar sites. But Fanatics closed its sportsbook at Cleveland’s Progressive Field, home of MLB’s Guardians, this year.
Other retail sites that have closed since sports betting went live in the Buckeye State are Tipico’s retail sportsbook with the Columbus Crew, and Superbook’s retail outlet at a bar near FC Cincinnati’s stadium. Both of those operators also discontinued mobile operations in the state.
The state has riverboat casinos and lottery games but various attempts to legalize Missouri online casinos have not come to fruition.
USA Today photo by Joe Puetz
