Missouri’s professional sports teams banded together on Thursday to deliver over 340,000 voter signatures in support of legalizing sports betting in November. The campaign received a boost from popular team mascots, including Fredbird from the Cardinals, Sluggerrr from the Royals, and Louie from the Blues, who eagerly handed out boxes filled with signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office in Jefferson City.
Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft now has to verify the signatures before the proposal can officially be placed on the ballot. The campaign needs about 180,000 signatures to meet the qualification requirements. Currently, 38 states and Washington D.C. allow some form of sports betting, with 30 states and Washington D.C. permitting online wagering.
The initiative in Missouri is an attempt to bypass the Senate, where legislation for sports betting has repeatedly stalled. Missouri is one of only twelve states where sports wagering remains illegal more than five years after the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for states to legalize it. The coalition behind the initiative includes six professional sports teams – St Louis Cardinals, St Louis Blues, Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Current and St Louis City soccer teams – and each of Missouri’s thirteen casinos will be able to offer both onsite and mobile sports betting if approved by voters.
If voters approve this proposed constitutional amendment, two mobile sports betting operators would also be licensed directly by the Missouri Gaming Commission, with teams responsible for onsite betting and advertising within 400 yards of their stadiums and arenas. Additionally, a minimum of $5 million annually in licensing fees and taxes would be allocated towards problem gambling programs; with any remaining tax revenues going towards education initiatives state regulators would have to launch sports betting no later than December 1st 2025 if approved by voters .
