Missouri lawmakers will have to wait until next year to pass a legal sports betting bill.
Earlier this year, the state’s House of Representatives passed House Bill 556 — a piece of legislation that proposed to legalize retail wagering and online sports betting sites — by a 118-35 vote. Despite the bipartisan support in the House, the bill has stalled in the Senate.
HB 556, which had garnered support from Missouri’s casinos and professional sports teams, failed to pass this month after lawmakers ran out of time to discuss the bill during a contentious final day of the state’s legislative session. As a result, it will not be considered in 2023.
“People bring legislation to the floor that they cannot get passed, and then in retaliation for that, they hang up the business of the Senate for hour after hour,” said Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin during Missouri’s final legislative day. “We’re not all running for governor. We just want to do the work of the Senate. We need cooperation from everyone to get that done.”
HB 556 proposes sports betting in The Show-Me State be regulated by the Missouri Gaming Commission. The bill would allow Missouri casinos to partner with up to three online sports betting operators, while the state’s professional sports teams are permitted to partner with one platform.
Net winnings of all wagers would be taxed at 10% under HB 556, including deductions for promotional costs. The revenue generated from sports wagering would then be allocated toward Missouri’s education fund. In comparison, casinos in Missouri pay a 21% tax on net winnings for every other form of gambling but the rate does exclude any promotional costs.
If legalized, sports betting is projected to generate roughly $950 million in adjusted gross revenue for Missouri through 2027.
Attempt after attempt
HB 556 isn’t the only piece of sports betting-related piece of legislation that has been proposed in Missouri. In March, lawmakers introduced House Bill 581 — a competing sports betting bill that also proposes to authorize both online and retail wagering.
The bill, which was also approved by Missouri’s House, has failed to pass over concerns about video gambling in gas stations and convenience stores across the state. House Bill 2502, which was introduced in March 2022, also failed to receive the votes that it needed in the Senate for similar reasons.
Missourians will now have to wait until 2024 for lawmakers to consider sports betting once again.
Outside looking in
Missouri has seen seven of its eight neighboring states legalize sports betting in their jurisdictions. The states include Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa, Tennessee, Nebraska, and Kentucky — which signed retail and online wagering into law in March. The Bluegrass State expects to officially launch sports betting in late 2023 or early 2024.
Missouri could immediately compete with its neighboring states as there were 8.7 million attempts by residents to place wagers in other states that were blocked during the 2022 NFL season — according to GeoComply.
