With the Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) set to open its application window Thursday, it seemed a good time to look at who might be in the only U.S. state set to launch legal sports betting in 2025.
Voters very narrowly approved a sports betting initiative last November, and since then the MGC has been crafting rules and preparing applications, which it says will be available on the website Thursday. Until the final version of the regulations is made public, it’s unclear exactly how many digital skins, or platforms, will be allowed to operate in the state. But there could be up to 21 digital licenses available — one for each of the state’s 13 casinos, one for each its six professional sports teams, and two stand-alone digital licenses.
Heading into the election there was some question about how many licenses casino operators in the Missouri would be entitled to. Initially, it appeared that each casino company — there are six (and five companies own two or more locations) — would be allowed to apply for one skin. But last fall, ahead of the election, the MGC said that the state attorney general interpreted the initiative language to allow each land-based casino to have a partner. There are 13 casinos in Missouri.
The new law mandates that sports betting go live by Dec. 1, 2025.
Below is a look at operators who already have market access, and how.
Bally Bet
Bally’s has access through its Bally’s Kansas City Casino, the only property it operates in the state. Presumably, the company will launch its Bally Bet platform, which is live in 11 states.
BetMGM
BetMGM would appear to have a clear pathway to a Missouri license. The company is the official sports betting partners of the Kansas City Chiefs, and in September 2022, the Chiefs and BetMGM entered into an agreement for BetMGM to be the team’s official sports betting partner. Through the partnership, BetMGM has signage in Arrowhead Stadium, BetMGM content is available on Chiefs digital channels, and more. One of BetMGM’s parent companies, MGM, operates a retail sportsbooks at the the football stadium.
Caesars Sportsbook
Caesars Entertainment owns three brick-and-mortar casinos in Missouri, and depending on how the final regulations read, could apply for up to three skins. The company currently only has one digital sports betting platform, although it also has five online gambling platforms.
DraftKings
DraftKings appears to have multiple options for getting into the Missouri market. The most direct, should casino companies be allowed to have a skin per location, would be though a 2019 agreement with Penn Entertain for a first skin in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The skin can be used for a sports betting, online casino, poker platform. DraftKings would pay Penn a revenue share, a one-time market-access fee and an up-front fee for the skin.
DraftKings 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.
ESPN Bet
Owned by Penn Entertainment, ESPN Bet will have market access through that company, which owns three brick-and-mortar properties in Missouri. ESPN Bet is available in 19 states, including five Missouri border states.
Fanatics Sportsbook
Under the same agreement in which DraftKings is entitled to a “first” skin from Penn in Missouri, Fanatics is, too. Fanatics came by the market access when it purchased PointsBet’s US businesses. In 2019 PointsBet made a deal with Penn for “first” skins in Missouri, Louisiana and Ohio. The Fanatics’ deal is for 20 years, and like the DraftKings deal, Fanatics must pay Penn a revenue share, up-front fee, and one-time market-access fee.
Fanatics Sportsbook is currently available in 23 US jurisdictions.
FanDuel
FanDuel has two possible avenues for market access in Missouri. The most obvious is a national partnership with Boyd Gaming dating to 2018. Boyd Gaming operates two physical casinos in Missouri and also owns a 5% stake in FanDuel. The companies have partnered on sports betting in many markets, including Indiana, Louisiana, and Nevada.
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 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.
These 3 companies likely have a way in
Three operators have partnerships that could lead to Missouri market access:
- Bet365 has a deal with Century Casinos in Colorado, which would pave the way for a partnership in Missouri. Century has two brick-and-mortar locations in Missouri;
- Kambi has an existing partnership with Affinity Casinos, and operates Affinity’s DRF Sports and DRF Bets (horse racing) platforms through a 2021 parthership. Affinity Casinos has two brick-and-mortar properties in Missouri;
- Underdog Sports doesn’t have a formal “sports betting” partnership with the Kansas City Royals, but with there is Underdog Fantasy signage in Kauffman Stadium. Underdog Sports is only live in North Carolina, but is also licensed in Colorado and Ohio.
