Casino Companies Continue to Fund Missouri Campaigns For and Against Sports Betting

As advertisements are flooding Missourians’ mailboxes ahead of the November 5th election, gambling companies continue to put money into campaigns for and against legal sports betting in the state.

While the campaign isn’t the most expensive in history, or even for a sports betting initiative, the numbers are quite high. Proponents and opponents have dumped over $35 million into the campaigns, which is a lot considering Missouri is only the 18th most populous state in the country with 6.2 million residents.

After the sports betting legislation passed in the House in 2023, but failed in the Senate, the activity remained illegal in the state. 

Missourians still have the option to bet on sports in crypto casinos that are based outside of the US, such as those listed at Best Crypto Casinos LTD. As they operate on decentralized networks, they’re available to punters from all across the world, regardless of their local laws and regulations. Additionally, with all the transactions being made in digital currencies, punters’ identities cannot be traced by the authorities, but they should still report their crypto winnings to the tax administration. 

Whether or not this will remain the situation will be seen on November 5th, when Missourians will have a chance to vote “yes” on Amendment 2.

If the amendment passes, Missouri will join 38 other states and the District of Columbia in allowing sports betting in some form.

Even in the case the amendment fails, the activity could become legal if the Missouri General Assembly and the governor decide to legalize it. However, they’ve failed to agree on a way to do this so far.

Another amendment, Amendment 5, will also provide Missourians a chance to vote on whether they want the number of available casino licenses in the state to be increased from 13 to 14.

With election day getting closer, gambling operators continue to put more money into their campaigns.

So far, DraftKings has contributed over $10 million to the Winning for Missouri Education campaign. The initiative’s committee has recently spent $1.2 million on TV ads and another $4.7 million on bookings to hold slots ahead of the election.

The situation is quite similar with the opposition campaign, with Caesars recently funding another $4 million to the cause, bringing its total contribution to almost $11 million. Caesars operates three land-based casinos in Missouri and would have something to lose if Amendment 2 passes.

Per Amendment 2, each gambling company in Missouri would be allowed one platform, while the current legislation allows one platform per location (up to three). This allows a company like Ceasers to have multiple platforms operate under their own brands or could potentially rent/sell one of them to another operator.

Other companies that operate Missouri casinos, Penn Entertainment and Boyd Gaming, have stayed on the sidelines so far.

Missouri will also get its new governor after the elections as Mike Parsons’ term has come to an end. Both Democratic nominee Crystal Quade and Republican nominee Mike Kehoe are in favor of the idea of legal sports betting in the state.