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Missouri Sports Betting Campaign Costs Exceed $54M, State Referendum Record
The efforts related to the Missouri sports betting referendum will have combined expenditures exceeding $54 million by the time Election Day arrives next Tuesday.
In addition to voting for the next president of the United States, residents of Missouri will express their opinion on whether to expand gambling in the Show-Me State to encompass betting on professional and college sports.
On Monday, the last set of state campaign finance records before the November 5 election was released by the Missouri Ethics Commission.
The report for Winning for Missouri Education, the committee supporting Amendment 2 with pro-sports betting funding, shows that the campaign has generated $40.75 million since it began in January. The committee obtained $19.2 million between October 1 and October 28. DraftKings and FanDuel accounted for the entire $19.2 million.
Winning for Missouri Education dramatically established a new record for the highest amount of money ever collected for a ballot referendum in the state. The former record was $31 million when a campaign promoting support from Missourians for an initiative to safeguard stem cell research succeeded in 2006. The query regarding stem cell research was Amendment 2 in the 2006 election.
Counter Expenditure
The $40.75 million collected by the professional sports betting initiative isn't the only funding related to the 2024 Amendment 2 issue. Caesars Entertainment, which runs Harrah’s North Kansas City, Horseshoe St. Louis, and Isle of Capri Boonville, is against Amendment 2, arguing that the state's suggested sports betting rules would not generate substantial funds for education as claimed.
Representatives from Caesars claim that the amendment's provision permitting sportsbooks to subtract promotional bets provided to attract new customers and continual free bets to keep them could reduce the state's public education tax advantage. Critics argue that Caesars' real motive in opposing Amendment 2 is due to its potential to invite non-casino operators and permit sportsbook giants DraftKings and FanDuel to possibly function online without needing a casino and a revenue-sharing deal.
Caesars' effort opposing Amendment 2 — Missourians Against the Misleading Online Gambling Amendment — has garnered almost $14.2 million. In October, Caesars' three casinos located in Missouri contributed $10 million.
Details of Sports Betting
If Amendment 2 is approved, Missouri’s 13 casinos will receive one opportunity for a retail and online sportsbook. The state’s professional sports stadiums and arenas will be given the same chances. Two online sportsbook brands would also be permitted.
The cost for online licenses would be $500,000, while retail permits would amount to $250,000 every five years. Missouri would gather 10% of the earnings from sports betting, no matter the source of the bets.
The referendum wording contains a clause permitting sportsbooks to subtract up to 25% of the free bets offered to customers from their tax obligations.
State financial officials estimate that Missouri might gain nearly $29 million annually from sports wagering. The actual advantage, however, would rely on the quantity of free bets that the operators offer to their clients.
The initial $5 million annually obtained by the state from bookmakers would be allocated to the state's Compulsive Gambling Prevention Fund. The leftover funds would support K-12 public schools and higher education institutions.
Missouri is one of just two states that share borders with eight other states. Among those neighbors, every state except Oklahoma has some type of legal sports wagering. Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Kansas offer mobile sports betting. Nebraska restricts sports wagering to on-site at its racetrack casinos.
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