Sports Betting Up for Consideration at Missouri Legislature

Sports betting could be coming to Missouri, if lawmakers give it the thumbs up this year.

Proposed Sports Betting Bill in Missouri

Senate Bill 764, introduced by state Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, is one of at least three sports betting measures already under consideration at this year’s legislative session. The session began Wednesday at the Capitol in Jefferson City and ends May 20.

The sports betting legislation under consideration in Missouri would allow for mobile sports betting and for sports wagers to be placed on “excursion gambling” boats.

Sports betting operators seeking a license in Missouri would be required to apply to the Missouri Gaming Commission and pay a $50,000 application fee.

Other sports betting bills under consideration in Missouri include Senate Bill 643 and House Bill 1666. These bills are among eight gaming-related measures lawmakers in Missouri are reviewing.

Missouri Losing Sports Betting Tax Dollars, Legislator Says

Luetkemeyer told New-Press Now that bettors are leaving Missouri to place wagers in surrounding states where sports betting is legal.

Sports betting is operational in four states that border Missouri. It is legal but not yet up and running in a fifth state, Nebraska.

“We’re increasingly seeing people in the state of Missouri who are leaving and going to those other states to place sportsbook bets, and that means we’re seeing money and tax revenue leave the state, money that would ordinarily go to schools,” the senator said.

Popular Sports Teams in Missouri

Missouri is considered a hotbed of professional and collegiate sports.

Major League Baseball betting could be big in the state with two teams, the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals, that have large fan bases.

The NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, led by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and NHL’s St. Louis Blues also are popular.

In collegiate athletics, the University of Missouri’s Tigers compete in the high-profile Southeastern Conference and schedule games against longtime non-conferences rivals in Kansas and other states.

In Alabama, where the legislative session runs from Jan. 11 to April 25, state Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Bay Minette, plans to push for a comprehensive gaming bill, according to the Alabama Political Reporter.

The gaming bill, which did not gain enough support for approval during the last legislative session, would authorize a statewide lottery and allow for casinos at a half-dozen locations.

The Alabama Track Owners Association has released television ads touting the gaming bill’s economic benefits.

Mississippi Takes Up Mobile Legislation

One of Alabama’s next-door neighbors, Mississippi, already has begun its 2022 legislative session.

Mississippi has 26 state-regulated casinos, which allow sports betting at ticket windows and kiosks inside the resorts.

However, off-site mobile sports betting is illegal in Mississippi. A bill that would allow statewide mobile sports wagering was introduced at the Capitol in Jackson this week.