Sports betting unlikely to launch until December, state official says

While the application period has commenced for companies seeking licenses for sports betting in Missouri, the program isn’t expected to launch until Dec. 1, according to the Missouri Gaming Commission.

The December date is the deadline for the program to go live set by Amendment 2, which voters narrowly approved in November. The state amendment allows people in Missouri over 21 years old to place bets on professional and collegiate sports games in casinos and online apps. The issue’s passage made Missouri the 39th state, along with the District of Columbia, to allow some form of sports betting.

Jan Zimmerman, Missouri Gaming Commission chair, confirmed the delay May 16 and said she recently talked with Executive Director Mike Leara about the sports betting timeline. The state agency previously thought a fall start was a possibility.

“What he said to me was, ‘We’ve done the math every way we know how and we just can’t see getting it done before then,’” she said, noting the delay is largely tied to the application process for gaming licenses. “Obviously, we have to have it done by Dec. 1, but I just don’t see a rollout sooner than that.”

That date puts it on a path for the latter portion of the NFL’s 2025 season schedule and after the conclusion of college football’s regular season.

The commission said that applications for the two available direct mobile licenses are due by July 15, and that applicants for those licenses will appear before the gaming commission on Aug. 13. Two days later, the winning applicants are expected to be announced. Applicants for other retail and mobile licenses must submit their application by Sept. 12.

In addition to potential licenses for the six parent companies operating casinos in the state and the six major league sports franchises, two internet-only companies could offer online gambling in Missouri, Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said some may be assuming the decision has already been made as to who will receive licenses.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” she said. “All of those companies out there, those names that everyone’s familiar with – Caesars and FanDuel and all of those – will have the opportunity to make presentations to myself and my fellow commissioners at that August meeting.”

The delay comes after Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in February denied the gaming commission’s emergency rules request intended to allow it to accept license applications earlier in the year, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. If the emergency rules had been accepted, gaming commission officials say it was possible sports betting could have started by this summer.

Zimmerman said as of Friday, no applications had been received by the gaming commission.

“Once the staff goes through to make sure that the application is complete, then that’s passed along to the gaming division of the Missouri [State] Highway Patrol, and they do the background investigations,” she said. “That’s an extensive process going out and meeting with folks and going through financial records and criminal history and talking to the applicants.”

Gaming commission officials say the department is allotted 13 new hires for the sports wagering program, which will boost its staff size to 90 employees.

“It’s a process when you’re starting from scratch and creating all of these rules,” she said, adding she understands that the lengthy application and review process may be frustrating for some ready to place their bets. “The staff has worked diligently rolling those rules out.”

Zimmerman said some voters may have had unrealistic expectations when voting last year to legalize sports betting in the state.

“I think that people thought when the vote happened back in November that we could just flip the switch, go live the very next day,” she said. “Even the technology side of making this work is huge.”