Lawmakers in Missouri are set to again consider plans to legalise sports betting after a series of new petitions were filed in the US state.
Several efforts to launch legal wagering in the state have fallen by the wayside in recent years. However new petitions suggest further proposals and bills could be on the way in Missouri.
Missouri’s secretary of state, John Ashcroft, is accepting comments on four petitions. All filed by Alixandra Cossette, an attorney at Stinson LLP, they relate to legalising sports betting in Missouri in some form.
Petitions propose legal sports betting in Missouri
The four petitions – 2024-135, 2024-136, 2024-137 and 2024-138 – all map out plans for online and land-based gambling.
Each of the petitions refers to the same set of proposed rules for sports betting.
Operators may only hold one licence, with retail permits costing up to $250,000 and online $500,000. Licensees will pay tax at a rate of 10% of gross gambling revenue from sports betting.
If the proposals are approved, the market will launch no later than 31 December, 2025.
The most recent attempt to legalise sports betting failed in April.
Senate Bill 30 had the support of casinos and major professional sports teams. However, proponents of video lottery terminals introduced a number of poison pill amendments to the bill, effectively killing the effort.
The legislation would have allowed each licensed casino in the state to partner with three skins, up to a total of six per casino company.
Additionally, each major sports team would have been able to partner with a mobile operator. The team would be granted an exclusion area around their grounds where they are to be the only online platform authorised to advertise.
All of the state’s neighbours have either authorised sports betting, or are in the process of doing so.
