Fanatics Sportsbook on Monday announced market access in Missouri via a partnership with Boyd Gaming. Per a press release, Fanatics plans to launch a digital platform and operate retail sportsbooks at Boyd’s Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City and Ameristar Casino Resort and Spa St. Charles near St. Louis.
The Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) in early August confirmed that Fanatics had applied for a sports betting license, and the company was the first to apply for a retail license in the state. The deadline for wagering applications is Sept. 12, and the MGC will issue licenses between then and the projected Dec. 1 launch date.
Traditionally, Boyd Gaming properties outside of Nevada have FanDuel Sportsbooks via a nationwide partnership. But FanDuel on Aug. 19 announced a market-access agreement with Major League Soccer’s St. Louis City SC. That announcement came days after the MGC awarded its two stand-alone digital licenses to Circa Sports and DraftKings. FanDuel had also applied but was not awarded an untethered license.
All major players have market access
Details of the Fanatics deal were not immediately available, other than the company calling it multi-year and indicating that “all development and trading of sports betting markets will be done in-house by Fanatics.”
Missouri is poised to be the only legal U.S. sports betting jurisdiction to launch in 2025, which will mark the first year that no state legislature has legalized. Every major operator is expected to be in Missouri, where there could be up to 21 licenses available. Besides the untethered licenses awarded to Circa and DraftKings, sportsbooks can partner with any of the state’s 13 retail casinos or six qualified professional sports teams.
The only other operator to announce market access is BetMGM, which will partner with Century Casinos, though the MGC has not announced that BetMGM has applied for a license. The only other operator to apply for a license is Underdog Sports, though it has not announced a market-access agreement.
St. Louis City SC is the lone professional sports team in Missouri to have announced a partnership. The top four wagering operators by market share already have entree into the state.
Among the other major operators who have not shared plans or applied for licenses are Caesars Sportsbook and ESPN Bet. It seems likely that those platforms will partner with casinos as Caesars and Penn Entertainment, a partner in ESPN Bet, each operate three casinos in Missouri.
