Circa Sports has applied for a stand-alone digital sports betting license in Missouri. The deadline for applications was Tuesday, and the Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) confirmed Wednesday that Circa’s application was postmarked before the deadline.
It’s possible that additional untethered wagering applications could arrive at MGC headquarters, but they would have to be postmarked by July 15 to qualify for the mobile-only deadline.
Circa joins DraftKings and FanDuel in applying for one of the two digital-only licenses. The MGC will review applications, hear from applicants at an Aug. 13 meeting, and award licenses Aug. 15. The agency is set to launch retail and digital sports betting by Dec. 1, and there could be up to 19 tethered digital licenses also available — one for each of the state’s 13 casinos plus one for each of six qualified professional sports teams.
The cost for any kind of mobile license in Missouri is $500,000, but having market access without a retail partner means an operator would not have to share revenue with the retail partner.
Circa already live in five states
Circa, known for its massive downtown Las Vegas sportsbook and “Stadium Swim,” is available digitally in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, and Nevada. The company, which caters in part to high-limit bettors, has taken a slower approach to mobile expansion than some other companies, and is live only in low-tax-rate states, other than Illinois. Missouri will tax sports betting operators at 10% of adjusted gross revenue.
“Missouri is a great environment in the Midwest with fantastic gambling, low taxes, and reasonable market access,” Circa Director of Operations Jeff Benson told InGame via email. “Being able to get an untethered license would be awesome, and allow us to expand our brand in a state that could really help us grow. We are simply looking for the states with the best remote registration and remote funding capabilities and [Missouri] qualifies.”
Tuesday, the MGC shared that FanDuel and DraftKings had submitted applications for stand-alone operator licenses, and Catalist (data), GeoComply (geolocation), and Gaming Laboratories International (testing) submitted applications for supplier licenses. Underdog Sports previously submitted an application for a tethered mobile license, but the MGC did not reveal who it would partner with.
BetMGM in May announced that it has market access via a partnership with Century Casinos, and bet365 has market access via a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. Tethered licenses will be awarded Sept. 12.
DraftKings, FanDuel could leverage partnerships
DraftKings and FanDuel appear to have multiple options for market access if they are not awarded digital-only licenses. DraftKings has a deal dating to 2019 with Penn Entertainment for a first skin in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Texas. It also has a sports betting partnership with the Kansas City Chiefs, and the DraftKings Illinois Casino Queen property is listed as a “preferred partner” by the St. Louis Cardinals.
FanDuel has a long-standing agreement with Boyd Gaming that would provide market access. When FanDuel parent Flutter last week announced it is buying Boyd’s 5% stake in FanDuel, the company wrote in its release that the deal includes an “extension of the strategic partnership between FanDuel and Boyd at significantly reduced market access costs in the states where FanDuel’s market access is provided by Boyd.” That deal will be in place until 2038.
FanDuel also has an existing business relationship with the St Louis Cardinals through FanDuel’s branding partnership with what is now Main Street Sports Group’s 16 regional sports networks (formerly Diamond Sports Network) and digital offerings. This includes the direct-to-customer FanDuel Sports Network. The Cardinals last fall signed the rebranded FanDuel Sports Network as its broadcast partner.
Circa does not appear to have a direct way into Missouri should it fail to win one of the stand-alone mobile licenses. The company has a deal with the Red Dolly Casino in Colorado, Full House Resorts in Illinois, Wild Rose Casino in Iowa, and ECL Corbin in Kentucky. All four are local or regional casinos and do not have locations in Missouri.
