Missouri sports betting has been stonewalled for the past several legislative sessions. It looks as though legislation will meet a similar fate in 2024.
The 2024 Missouri legislative session is underway. It’s been marred by political tussles and, in the case of sports betting in Missouri, familiar roadblocks.
New year, same story for Missouri sports betting
Missouri Rep. Dan Houx put forth a last-ditch effort to legalize MO sports betting one year ago. After an initial bill was squashed by Sen. Denny Hoskins, Rep. Houx added provisions to a Hoskins-written bill that would have brought the best online sportsbooks to the Show-Me State.
However, Hoskins squashed that bill, too. He believes that sports betting and VLT legislation should be coupled together, which is a significant departure from the opinions of many of his colleagues. Over the past several years, Hoskins has used his power to effectively kill any Missouri sports betting legislation that gets to his chamber.
This, though, doesn’t mean Houx and others have stopped trying. He’s sponsoring a bill that would legalize Missouri sports betting and produce roughly $35 million in annual tax revenue.
“With revenues declining would be a big help right now,” Houx said to Missourinet. “It allows the sports teams, mobile operators, and the casinos to have skins, and those skins can be sold to whoever or whichever groups they want to. The fees range from $100,000 (to) $350,000.”
That same article, though, quotes Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden as saying the bill is extremely unlikely to pass. Given the continued presence of Hoskins and a few others, Missouri almost certainly won’t see legal sports betting in 2024.
2025 could be different, though
These efforts, however, may very well pay off a year from now. Hoskins is term-limited and will exit his post before the 2025 legislative session. The removal of that roadblock, combined with continued frustration on both sides of the aisle, could be enough to get sports betting legislation across the finish line.
In addition, a coalition of sports team owners is not only supporting Houx’s legislation, but plotting a power play of their own. St. Louis Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III is pro-sports betting. His coalition is planning petition drives in hopes of bringing Missouri sports betting to a vote on Election Day.
DeWitt was vocal in standing behind the bill earlier this week:
“Particularly this time of year, like with the NFL and the playoffs, you’ll see the geolocating companies noticing just thousands of accounts and activity across. They try to do it in this state, but then it gets blocked. What it does is it drives participants to the illegal marketplace, which is untaxed and unregulated, which is also exploding in Missouri.”
The 2024 Missouri legislative session ends on Friday, May 17. Stay tuned to Winners and Whiners for more updates on the state of sports betting in Missouri.
