Casinos Contribute $4.1 Million To Defeat Sports Betting On Missouri Ballot

A campaign committee against a Missouri sports betting measure has raised more than $4.1 million from Caesars Entertainment properties to defeat the issue on the November ballot.

The following have contributed to Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment, according to a Sept. 13 filing with the Missouri Ethics Commission. That St. Louis-based committee seeks to defeat the Nov. 5 sports betting ballot item, Amendment 2.

Caesars is a Nevada-based gaming company with hotel-casinos across the country, including in Missouri.

Below are the contributions:

• Harrah's North Kansas City: $1.4 million
• Tropicana St. Louis: $1.3 million
• Isle of Capri Boonville: $1.3 million
• Caesars Enterprise Services: $156,202.79

Battle Lines Drawn

While commercial sports-betting operators such as DraftKings and FanDuel have contributed to the campaign committee in favor of sports betting—Winning For Missouri Education—the Caesars properties listed above are giving money to the other side.

According to gaming analyst Steve Ruddock of the “Straight to the Point” Substack, those casinos oppose the measure because “the language of the initiative has a unique structure, with licenses limited to each casino’s parent company, Missouri’s six professional sports teams, and two online-only licenses.”

“That language limits PENN Entertainment and Caesars to a single mobile betting skin, even though each company operates multiple casinos in the state,” Ruddock wrote.

Missouri Pro Sports Teams Support Sports Betting

Last week, a county circuit judge rejected a lawsuit seeking to keep the measure off the ballot, allowing it to go before voters in November.

With voter approval on the Nov. 5 ballot, Missouri’s 13 casinos and six professional sports teams can offer onsite and mobile sports wagering to bettors at least 21 years old. The Missouri Gaming Commission also will be permitted to license two additional mobile sports betting operators.

The sports teams backing the measure are the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Chiefs, and two soccer teams, the Kansas City Current and St. Louis City.

Recently, Winning for Missouri Education aired a television ad urging support for the proposed constitutional amendment.

Sports betting is legal in every state that borders Missouri, except Oklahoma. Nationwide, sports betting is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C.

In an earlier interview on Gambling.com’s “The Edge,” Kansas City attorney Gary Jenkins said he believes voters will approve the sports betting measure. Jenkins said many Missourians are going out of state to place legal sports bets, costing Missouri the tax revenue that benefits bordering states.