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Casino giant spends big to oppose Missouri sports betting plan
Many casino operators across the U.S. have embraced the addition of mobile sports betting to the mix that includes their on-site sportsbooks, under the right circumstances.
But Caesars Entertainment has taken great exception to the ballot question that is coming before Missouri residents statewide in November, which would legalize sports betting in the state.
The opposition is such that the company has contributed more than $4 million to the “Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment” campaign.
The objection by Caesars is that under the final language of the referendum – after two years of political horse-trading – only one sports betting license would be available to companies like Caesars that operate multiple casinos in the state.
“Amendment 2 is a bad deal for Missouri,” Brooke Foster, a spokesperson for the Caesars-aligned campaign said in a statement. “This deceptive measure was written by and for the financial benefit of its out-of-state corporate sponsors and funders.”
While no names are mentioned there, it’s worth noting that the ballot question would authorize two “untethered licenses” for sportsbooks that do not yet do business in the state. In previous versions of sports betting bills that ultimately failed in the statehouse and led to the constitutional amendment alternative, no such licenses existed.
Daily fantasy sports giants-turned-sportsbook operators FanDuel and DraftKings have contributed more than $11 million to the “Winning for Missouri Education” campaign that supports the ballot question.
“I think the reason Caesars is opposing this is because of the limitations on the number of skins, or apps, that can be associated with any one casino company,” Park University Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Matt Harris told TV station FOX4 earlier this week. “So my guess is, Caesars is opposing this, not because they’re opposed to sports betting, but because they think this legislation is too limiting.”
Polls suggest broad support for the referendum
Caesars may have an uphill battle to fight, as the TV station – in conjunction with Emerson College – released a poll earlier this week that indicated that 52% of respondents expressed support for the referendum, with 25% opposed and 23% unsure. Other polls have shown similar sentiments, with support in each poll being the strongest from young adults and declining with each older population group.
The referendum also has the backing of all of the state’s major sports teams, including the NFL Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and MLB’s iconic franchise the St. Louis Cardinals. MLB’s Kansas City Royals, the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, MLS’ St. Louis SC and the Kansas City Current of the NWSL also are supporters of the ballot question.
One of the referendum’s biggest supporters is Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III, who last month hailed the announcement of the expected vote.
“Missouri is now just one step away from joining most other states in legalizing sports betting and being able to provide millions of dollars to Missouri classrooms,” DeWitt said in a statement. “A vote for Amendment 2 in November is the right thing to do for both Missouri public schools and our favorite sports teams.”
If the ballot question is approved, successful applicants would pay a $500,000 licensing fee and a modest 10% tax on gross gaming revenues. A minimum of $5 million annually from that collection would go toward funding problem gambling programs, with the rest – estimated at up to $24 million per year by referendum supporters – going to fund education programs at all levels.
The referendum states that upon approval, sports betting would launch no later than December 2025. But considering that 38 of the other 49 states already offer sports wagering, a clear blueprint for the Missouri Gaming Commission codifying all necessary regulations in a more expedited fashion already exists.
Neighboring Kansas – which currently lures countless Kansas City, Mo. residents across the state line every football Saturday and Sunday to make legal sports wagers on their smartphones – was able to approve the first bets less than three months after a bill was signed into law by Governor Laura Kelly in 2022.
Caesars operates three of the 13 casinos in Missouri – Horseshoe St. Louis, Isle of Capri Casino Hotel Boonville and Harrah’s North Kansas City.
Missouri residents also will be asked to vote in November on whether or not to approve a 14th casino license in the Lake of the Ozarks region in central Missouri, a popular tourist destination. The Bally’s casino company is seeking that license.
Bullet dodged by sports betting referendum
The fate of the ballot question was up in the air earlier this month until a judge ruled against plaintiffs who had claimed that referendum supporters failed to gain a sufficient amount of voter signatures to put the question before voters this fall.
Cole County Court judge Daniel Green found that there was insufficient proof offered by those plaintiffs in making their claims.