A ballot question to legalize sports betting in Missouri held a lead early Wednesday with most precincts reporting, according to unofficial results from the secretary of state’s office.
Early Wednesday, the yes votes in favor of sports betting led the no votes by a count of 1,440,546 (50.260%) to 1,425,659 (49.740%) with 3,552 of 3,572 precincts reporting.
If the yes votes maintain the lead in final results, in-person and mobile sports betting will begin no later than Dec. 1, 2015, for bettors age 21 and over, pending certification from Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft,
The certification process, involving 116 local election authorities and the secretary of state, is to be completed by Dec. 9, Ashcroft’s spokesman, JoDonn Chaney, told Gambling.com.
According to the Missouri Independent, approval of the sports betting constitutional amendment would allow the Missouri Gaming Commission to issue licenses to the state’s major sports teams and 13 casinos. The commission also will be permitted to license two additional mobile sports betting operators.
The casinos and sports teams will be permitted operate an in-person and online sports betting.
The sports teams that backed the measure, known as Amendment 2, are the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Chiefs and two soccer teams, the Kansas City Current and St. Louis City.
Major commercial sports betting operators, including DraftKings and FanDuel, which pumped millions into the effort to approve sports betting, are expected to be licensed to operate in Missouri.
Will Betting Begin In Time For Super Bowl, March Madness?
By early Wednesday, with voting results incomplete and unofficial, it was unclear when the Gaming Commission would complete the process of licensing sportsbook operators and give them the go-ahead to start accepting bets. In other states, gaming regulators have targeted major sporting events that attract intense betting interest, such as the Super Bowl and March Madness, to launch sports betting.
The next Super Bowl is set for Feb, 9, 2025, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
The 2025 March Madness tournament “starts with Selection Sunday on March 16 as 68 teams will play in the 2025 NCAA tournament for men’s basketball,” according to ncaa.com.
Here is the March Madness schedule:
- Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 16
- First Four: March 18-19
- First round: March 20-21
- Second round: March 22-23
- Sweet 16: March 27-28
- Elite Eight: March 29-30
- Final Four: April 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
- NCAA championship game: April 7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
The Missouri Gaming Commission is next scheduled to meet Dec. 4 in Jefferson City,
Five SEC States Lack Legal Sports Betting
Once the votes in Missouri are certified and regulators green light sports betting, the Show-Me State will become the 39th state with legal sports betting. Sports betting also is legal in Washington, D.C. Oklahoma is the only state bordering Missouri without legal sports betting.
Even with legal sports betting in Missouri, the Southeastern Conference states are the largest geographic block in the nation where the sports betting industry has room to grow. Sports betting also is illegal in most populated state, California, which is not an SEC state. Texas, an SEC state without legal sports betting, is the second most populated state.
The SEC states without legal sports betting are:
- Texas (Texas A&M Aggies, Texas Longhorns)
- Oklahoma (Oklahoma Sooners)
- Alabama (Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers)
- Georgia (Georgia Bulldogs)
- South Carolina (South Carolina Gamecocks)
The other SEC states have either in-person or mobile sports betting — or, in some cases, both.
The SEC states with legal sports betting are:
- Arkansas (Arkansas Razorbacks)
- Louisiana (LSU Tigers)
- Missouri (Missouri Tigers)
- Kentucky (Kentucky Wildcats)
- Tennessee (Tennessee Volunteers, Vanderbilt Commodores)
- Mississippi (Mississippi State Bulldogs, Ole Miss Rebels)
- Florida (Florida Gators)