A sports betting referendum will be on the ballot in Missouri on Election Day, but a new group has begun to wage a battle against bringing sports betting to the Show Me State and has filed paperwork with the Missouri Ethics Commission against the initiative.
Just Say No
Getting a referendum question on the ballot takes plenty of coordination, teamwork, and volunteers to collect the signatures needed. The pro-sports betting coalition, Winning for Missouri Education, has done all the heavy lifting, collected over 340,000 signatures—well over the 170,000 verified signatures required from Missouri voters—and has even thwarted a legal action contending the Secretary of State’s office did not follow legal guidelines in counting and verifying the signatures.
But now comes a new challenge from a coalition called the Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment, and it is just the latest hurdle for the sports betting stakeholders in Missouri to climb. The campaign’s spokesperson, Brooke Foster, stated that the sports betting initiative is a “bad deal for Missouri” and contends that it “was written by and for the financial benefit of its out-of-state corporate sponsors and funders.”
Gaming industry journalist Ryan Butler has been covering the sports betting fight in Missouri and said, “Missouri residents spending their money in Illinois and Kansas specifically, (plus) Iowa, Arkansas, every state but Oklahoma, has sports books that border Missouri,” he noted. “The idea is trying to corral that and keep those tax dollars in the state of Missouri.”
As for the newest obstacle opposing sports betting in the Show Me State, Butler said, “You don’t waste time filing the paperwork and creating a committee if you’re not willing to do something with it. We saw a couple of lawsuits trying to stop this from even making the ballot.”
Major Players Behind Sports Betting Initiative
Winning for Missouri Education is the name of the political action committee created to bring sports betting to the Missouri masses, but the powers behind it include the state’s six professional sports franchises, including the Cardinals, Royals, Chiefs, Blues, Current, and City FC.
All of them will gain another revenue stream should sports betting be passed due to sponsorship agreements with the sports betting operators that launch in the Show Me State.
Speaking of sports betting operators, the industry duopoly of FanDuel and DraftKings has funded Winning for Missouri Education to the tune of a combined $10 million.
“Now that we are officially on the ballot, we’ll be over the next two and a half months talking to Missourians across the state about why it makes sense to set up a legal sports betting framework that helps public education,” said campaign spokesman Jack Cardetti after the signatures were verified.
However, Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment has stated through its spokesperson, “We are building a broad coalition and are prepared to wage a vigorous campaign to educate voters across the state and ensure the measure is defeated.”
Yet, with less than two months left before the election, it will take a yeoman’s effort to overcome the blizzard of advertising expected from the pro sports betting forces. The $500,000 licensing fee each sportsbook must pay and the 10% tax on its revenues are expected to generate $29 million per year for the state’s education system. Those will be the talking points to convince Missourians to vote yes in November.
