Last week Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft confirmed voters would have the final say on Missouri sports betting, potentially breaking an impasse that has seen legalisation efforts run into a brick wall in the statehouse.
Path to legal betting isn’t fully cleared
The ballot measure, which tethers online sportsbooks to sports venues, was put forward by Missouri’s professional sports teams with backing from FanDuel and DraftKings but no buy-in from the state’s casinos.
And early polling suggests voters are not yet on side. A Remington poll in May showed 60% were opposed to legal sports betting. However more recent numbers from Emerson suggest differently; their figures show 38% in favour and 35% against, with a lot of undecideds.
There’s also a highly contentious abortion measure on the ballot, which may drive voter turnout. Could that be beneficial for Missouri sports betting?