New Missouri Sports Betting Bill Introduced, Unlikely to Be Heard This Session

• A new Missouri sports betting bill was introduced last week
• Missouri Gov. Mike Parson called for a special legislative session to discuss income tax cuts
• Parson is unlikely to allow the new bill to be discussed during the special session

A new Missouri sports betting bill has been introduced during a special legislative session, but Gov. Mike Parson (R) is unlikely to allow it to be heard until the regularly scheduled 2023 legislative session.

Rep. Dan Houx (R) introduced a new sports betting bill, HB 4, during the first day of a special legislative session last week and the bill was discussed today in an “Emerging Issues” committee meeting. HB 4 is almost a line-by-line rewrite of the House-approved HB 2502, which legalizes Missouri retail and online sports betting betting. HB 2502 was approved by the House by a 115-33 vote, but never received a full Senate vote.

“We want to show Missourians that the House is trying to do everything we’ve promised to do. I’ve been hearing about this (sports betting) every day. We want to keep this issue at the forefront,” Houx said.

Parson called the special legislative session to discuss an income tax cut for state resident. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a representative for Gov. Parson said he would not make a call for the bill to be discussed at this time.

Missouri Sports Betting Still a Hot Topic

Several members of the “Emerging Issues” committee said Missouri sports betting has been a topic that constituents have most talked about since the summer, and one that also became a hot button issue after neighboring Kansas launched sports betting earlier this month.

Missouri is losing out on revenue every day by not having legal sports betting, Rep. Ashley Aune (D) said during the committee meeting. Sports betting revenue is crossing the border into Kansas every single day while Missouri struggles to find a solution to a bill.

“I’m thrilled we’re talking about this. My neighbors are very upset that we haven’t gotten this done. Missouri should have done this already,” she noted.

Representatives from the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, and several other state sports franchises spoke up at the committee meeting in favor of the bill. No individual or group representatives spoke out against the Missouri sports betting bill.

Mike Winter, a representative for the Missouri Gaming Association, said the state’s six gaming companies that own the 13 Missouri casinos are all in favor of legalizing retail and online sports betting. Earlier in the year, the gaming association began to devise sports betting rules and regulations, so sports betting could get off the ground quickly if approved this calendar year.

Winter said if the bill had been passed in May, casinos likely would have been able to begin accepting bets on Aug. 28, a mere three months later.

Missouri Sports Betting Bill Details

HB 4 will allow for 39 separate sportsbooks skins distributed amongst the state’s 13 casinos and six professional sports organizations. The bill will officially set the sports betting tax rate at 10%, which will be one of the lowest in the country.

The bill will allow each casino to offer a maximum of three skins, but will cap the number of skins per casino company at six if they own two or more facilities. The remaining skins will be allocated to Missouri professional sports franchises.

The breakdown for skins will be as such:

• Affinity Gaming: Six skins
• Boyd Gaming: Six skins
• Caesars Entertainment: Six skins
• Century Casinos: Six skins
• Penn National Gaming: Six skins
• Bally’s Corp.: Three skins
• Missouri professional sports franchises (6): One skin each

An online sports betting license will require an initial application fee of $150,000, and then a renewal fee of $125,000 one year after. A retail sports betting license will require an initial application fee of $100,000.