Legal, regulated Missouri sports betting is set to go live on Dec. 1. Based on population size, interest levels, and past state launch handles, BetMissouri.com developed projected handle estimated for the state.
Projected Missouri Sports Betting Handle
Timeframe | Projected Handle |
Dec. 1-7, 2025 | $65,652,274 |
Dec. 1-31, 2025 | $262,609,095 |
Dec. 1, 2025-Nov. 30, 2026 | $3.88 billion |
What to Expect Out of the Gate For Missouri Sports Betting Apps
We based our numbers on Missouri’s 2025 Census population estimate of 6,282,890, then the average handle size – or amount wagered – in the five sports betting states that are closest to Missouri in population: Maryland, Indiana, Massachusetts, Colorado and Tennessee.
Those five states have averaged just over $1.1 billion in handle (or $167.19 per resident) over the first four months after their markets launched, averaging out to $279,571,285 per month in handle.
We multiplied that per-resident figure by Missouri’s 2025 Census projection to come up with a total Missouri sportsbook apps handle of $1,050,436,380 over the first four months (or $262,609,095 per month). We then divided that by four (as there are four Mondays after Dec. 1 this year) to get our first week estimate of $65,652,274 in Missouri.
Using the first 12 months in handle from the same five states with similar profiles as Missouri, we then projected how much money that operators offering Missouri sports betting promos will accept in wagers from Dec. 1, 2025 to Nov. 30, 2026.
We can project that Missouri sportsbooks will take in more than $3.88 billion in wagering handle during their first full year of operation.
This isn’t a perfect science – some states saw sports betting grind to a halt when COVID-19 restrictions were in full swing, and Tennessee has no casinos so it has no retail options for wagering. In every state that has launched since the U.S. Supreme Court Professional And Amateur Sports Protection in 2018 – opening the door for all states to join Nevada in having legal sports betting – the online sportsbooks have been the spot for at least 90% of sports wagers. Still, Missouri’s in-person casinos can take sports bets beginning Dec. 1, if they choose.
If Missouri hits the four-month handle projection of $1,050 billion, the state would rank third out of the five states surveyed, behind Massachusetts ($1,948,803,815 from March to June 2023) and Maryland ($1,497,097,353 from November 2022 through February 2023). The Show-Me State would be ahead of Colorado, Tennessee and Indiana. Again, some figures and dates were adjusted to account for business lost during COVID-19 related shutdowns.
To put it in a Border War sense, Missouri’s projected handles would dwarf the sums put up by Kansas sportsbooks when the Sunflower State market launched in 2022. Operators in Missouri’s western neighbor took in a total handle of $718,777,560 over their first four months, or $179,694,390 per month.
What Could Potentially Impact Handle Estimates?
One major sporting event that’s scheduled for the first week of Missouri’s sports betting era is the 2025 installment of the Border War. Missouri men’s basketball faces Kansas on Dec. 7 inside Kansas City’s T-Mobile Arena.
While regular-season NCAA men’s basketball rarely moves the needle for betting (compared with other in-season leagues like the NFL and NBA), there should be some juice behind this year’s rivalry. KU enters the season with +2500 NCAA title odds on DraftKings Sportsbook, while the Tigers sit at +15000 this season on the Boston-based sports betting giant’s odds board.
That same day, Kansas City Chiefs betting interest picks up with that night’s home game against the Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football.
But the first major event involving a Missouri team in one of the traditional “big Four” leagues is the St. Louis Blues, who host the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 1, the day MO sportsbooks launch. The Blues then travel to play the Boston Bruins (Dec. 4), Ottawa Senators (Dec. 6) and Montreal Canadiens (Dec. 7) during the first week of legal sports betting in the Show-Me State.
Throw in a potential (albeit longshot) SEC Football Championship Game appearance by the Missouri Tigers or even a Big 12 Football Championship Game run by the Kansas Jayhawks on Dec. 6 and the picture becomes even more convoluted for projections.
One thing we can guarantee is that there will be lots of interest in Missouri sports betting out of the gate as the final month of 2025 begins.
USA Today photo by Kirby Lee
