Digital Wager Wire highlights the most important events impacting the domestic and international sports betting and gaming industry landscape each Sunday throughout the year.
Sports Betting Coming to the Show Me State
It was likely a tighter-than-expected race to legalize sports betting in Missouri, but when the votes were tabulated, the pro-sports betting forces came out on top by an ever-so-narrow 50.1% (1,468,306) to 49.9% (1,463,940) margin. That means less than 4400 votes out of the nearly two million Missourians who voted decided the fate of mobile and retail sports betting in the Show Me State.
“Missouri has some of the best sports fans in the world, and they showed up big for their favorite teams on Election Day,” Bill DeWitt III, President of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a news release issued Wednesday.
The six professional sports franchises in the state, including the Cardinals, Royals, Chiefs, Blues, Kansas City Current, and St. Louis City FC, backed the political action committee, Winning for Missouri Education, while industry leaders FanDuel and DraftKings donated a combined $40.1 million to the campaign to bring sports betting to the Missouri masses.
According to the verbiage in the legislation, sports betting must be launched by December 1, 2025, and a wide range of betting options will be available. Moreover, wagering on in-state schools such as St. Louis University or the University of Missouri will be allowed, although college player props on those teams will not.
A total of 14 mobile sports betting licenses will be available, and it is expected that DraftKings and FanDuel will get the only two untethered licenses, while other industry players such as ESPN BET, Bally Bet, Caesars, BetMGM, Fanatics, BetRivers, bet365, and Underdog are expected to be among the first wave to launch.
Vice President-Elect JD Vance Seen as Presidential Favorite in 2028
Although the 2024 US election just concluded, it hasn’t stopped the oddsmakers from hanging lines on the presidential contenders four years from now. Odds on the top 10 challengers for the Oval Office in 2028 are as follows:
- JD Vance (Republican) +300
- Michelle Obama (Democrat) +500
- Gavin Newsom (Democrat) +550
- Ron DeSantis (Republican) +800
- Tulsi Gabbard (Republican) +1000
- Hillary Clinton (Democrat) +1400
- Tucker Carlson (Republican) +1400
- Nikki Haley (Republican) +2500
- Oprah Winfrey (Democrat) +2500
- Kamala Harris (Democrat) +2500
Other prominent names being mentioned are Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro at +3300, Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (+3300), and Republican entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (+3300). Donald Trump Jr. also made the list at odds of +4000.
Although Michelle Obama is viewed as the most promising Democrat to claim the White House when Donald Trump steps down, it should be noted she has expressed her lack of enthusiasm for the highest office in the land many times before.
“The reason why I don’t want to run for president — and I can’t speak for Oprah [Winfrey] — but my sense is that, first of all, you have to want the job,” Obama said while referring to previous rumors that Oprah was going to run in 2020. She continued, “And you can’t just say, ‘Well, you’re a woman, run.’ We just can’t find the women we like and ask them to do it, because there are millions of women who are inclined and do have the passion for politics.”
Democrat-turned-Republican Tulsi Gabbard is another interesting choice for Republicans if Vance is no longer viewed as a viable candidate. The former United States Army Reserve officer and US Congresswoman played an integral part in getting Donald Trump elected this year.
“This administration has us facing multiple wars on multiple fronts and regions around the world and closer to the brink of nuclear war than we ever have been before,” Gabbard said. “This is one of the main reasons why I’m committed to doing all that I can to send President Trump back to the White House, where he can, once again, serve us as our commander in chief.”
