Hours after being denied an untethered digital sports betting license in Missouri Friday, FanDuel announced that it secured market access via Major League Soccer’s St. Louis City FC.
Friday morning, the Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) awarded its two stand-alone mobile licenses to Circa Sports and DraftKings. The licenses are two of up to 21 available in Missouri, where digital sports betting is set to launch Dec. 1.
It was surprising that FanDuel was shut out during the initial phase of licensing, but the national leader in digital sports betting by market share clearly had a backup plan in the works.
“Missouri is home to some of the most passionate sports fans in the country, and we are thrilled to partner with St. Louis CITY SC to introduce our industry leading product to the Show Me State,” FanDuel President of Sports Mike Raffensperger said via press release. “We look forward to supporting the team and engaging with the community as we bring America’s #1 Sportsbook to fans across Missouri.”
Missouri will be the 25th U.S. jurisdiction in which FanDuel operates. It is already live in border states Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas.
Details of deal not released
The difference between gaining untethered and tethered market access is cost. An untethered license comes with a $500,000 price tag while a tethered license costs $250,000. But that up-front difference will likely be small compared to the price of a market-access agreement. Details of FanDuel’s deal with the St. Louis City FC were not disclosed, but such deals can be in the form of a percentage of revenue or a set payment.
St. Louis FC is one of six named professional sports teams in Missouri eligible for a sports betting license. The state’s 13 casinos each also are eligible for a license. So far, it appears that four licenses are spoken for — the two stand-alone mobile licenses, St. Louis FC’s license, and one of Century Casinos’ licenses. That company and BetMGM announced a market-access deal in May. Century Casinos operates two brick-and-mortar locations in Missouri.
The partnership was somewhat surprising as FanDuel currently has market access in Missouri and across other U.S. states via an agreement with Boyd Gaming that remained in place — though at a lower cost — after FanDuel parent Flutter bought Boyd out of its stake in FanDuel in July.
FanDuel, BetMGM, and any other operators who wish to gain entry into Missouri must also go through their own licensing process. The MGC deadline for tethered license applications is Sept. 12, but the agency hasn’t announced when it will award those licenses.
Underdog Sports previously applied for a tethered digital license, and Fanatics Betting & Gaming has already applied for a tethered retail and digital license. Neither company has announced who their partners will be.
