Digital Wager Wire highlights the most important events impacting the domestic and international sports betting and gaming industry each week throughout the year.
Missouri Rumored to Launch Sports Betting by Summer
It was a laborious and lengthy battle to get sports betting passed in the Show Me State, but after it was narrowly approved at the ballot boxes, the process of getting the industry up and running began in earnest. According to the bill, sports betting must be launched by December 1, 2025, but reports are circulating that a summertime launch is much more likely than one to occur after the NFL season begins in September.
The Path to Readiness
Crafting rules and vetting possible licensees will be an integral part of getting all the proverbial ducks in a row. This takes time, and getting it right from the onset is far more important than overlooking critical details and experiencing problems later.
“It takes time to get those things in place. Licenses, do background checks on people to make sure businesses are set up and websites and everything. It just doesn’t happen overnight,” said Missouri State University Finance and Economics Professor David Mitchell. “It’s more of an operational constraint than it is a legal constraint.”
Rules governing sports betting must not only be created but must be approved by the governor and the secretary of state before any further progress can be made. A mandated 30-day public input period must be observed during which citizens can voice questions or concerns, which must be addressed before the issuance of licenses for both the sports betting platforms and employees of those companies.
Jan Zimmerman, chair of the Missouri Gaming Commission, believes a summer launch is not only possible but probable, and she sees a silver lining in Missouri being late to legalize digital sports betting.
“There’s some advantages, I guess, to being relatively late to the game,” Zimmerman said.
Maryland Sportsbooks Bracing for Tax Increase
Once politicians get a handle on how much revenue mobile sportsbooks generate, it is usually not long thereafter that discussions begin regarding hiking their tax rate so the state can get a bigger piece of the pie. That has already happened in Ohio and Illinois, but it has been the subject of conversation in many other markets, including Maryland.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore is faced with reducing a $2.7 billion deficit and has recently discussed doubling taxes on mobile sports betting adjusted gross revenues from 15% to 30%, which would not be the cure that ails the state’s economic woes, but it would certainly help.
Proposed Tax Increases
Governor Moore’s tax increases would also be imposed on the state’s land-based casinos, which would see table games’ revenues rise from 20% to 25%, while state income tax increases being proposed include levying a 6.25% state bump on those earning more than $500,000 and a 6.5% tax rate on those making more than $1 million.
Some industry insiders believe Maryland’s desperate hunt for more revenues could lead to a more serious discussion regarding iGaming in the state. This new legislative session will likely see one or more bills supporting online casino gambling in the Old Line State.
