Missouri voters to decide on sports betting legalization initiative in November

Voters in Missouri will decide on a ballot initiative to legalize sports betting on Nov. 5, 2024.

On August 13, the secretary of state’s office confirmed that enough valid signatures were submitted, and certified the measure for the ballot. The campaign supporting the initiative, Missouri for Winning Education, submitted 340,000 petition signatures on May 2.

The ballot measure would allow for each of the state’s professional sports teams and casinos to offer sports betting, either on-site or through online platforms that could be used anywhere in the state. The initiative would enact a 10% tax on adjusted gross sports betting revenue, after the payout of winnings and promotional bets to customers. From the tax revenue, $5 million would go to a fund to help compulsive gamblers, while the rest would go to public schools and higher education programs.

Some form of sports betting is legal in 38 states and the District of Columbia, while online betting is legal in 30 states. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court Murphy v. NCAA decision struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which prohibited any state government involvement in gambling on amateur or professional team games. This decision allowed for states to legalize sports betting within their borders. Five of the states that legalized sports betting—Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, and South Dakota—did so through a ballot measure. California voters rejected two sports betting measures in 2022—a measure that would have legalized sports betting at American Indian gaming casinos and licensed racetracks in California, and another that would have legalized online and mobile sports betting.

Jack Cardetti, the spokesperson for Winning for Missouri Education, the campaign supporting the amendment, said, “As one of only 12 states without legalized sports betting, Missouri took a significant step forward today in ensuring that these revenues stay in Missouri to help our communities and classrooms. We are grateful for the support from Missouri’s professional sports franchises, who have been crucial in creating the opportunity for Missourians to vote directly on this issue in November.”

Missouri voters will decide on five total measures on Nov. 5. Two measures were referred by the state legislature and three other citizen-initiated measures were also certified for the ballot.