Missouri’s professional sports teams brought in over 340,000 voter signatures on Thursday to push for a ballot measure to legalize sports betting in November. The teams were assisted by mascots from the Cardinals, Royals, and Blues as they delivered boxes of signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office in Jefferson City. Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft will need to verify the signatures before the proposal can be added to the ballot, with around 180,000 signatures needed for qualification. Currently, 38 states and the District of Columbia permit some form of sports betting, including 30 states and D.C. that allow online wagering.
The effort to legalize sports betting in Missouri through the ballot measure comes after bills in the Senate have stalled repeatedly. Missouri is one of twelve states where sports wagering is still illegal more than five years after the U.S. Supreme Court gave states the go-ahead to legalize it. The coalition of teams supporting the measure includes the Cardinals, Blues, Chiefs, Royals, and both Kansas City and St. Louis soccer teams.
The proposed constitutional amendment would allow Missouri’s 13 casinos and six professional sports teams to provide on-site and mobile sports betting. Teams would oversee on-site betting and advertising within 400 yards of their stadiums and arenas, and two mobile sports betting operators could be licensed by the Missouri Gaming Commission. A minimum of $5 million in annual licensing fees and taxes would be allocated to programs addressing problem gambling, with the remaining revenue going toward education.
If approved by voters, the initiative would require state regulators to implement sports betting no later than December 1, 2025.