Bill to legalize sports wagering in Missouri gets approved by the House
The first round of approval to allow betting on major college and professional sports was announced Wednesday.
The Missouri House has begun the first step to legalizing sports betting in the state by approving the bill sponsored by Rep. Dan Houx, R-Warrensburg. The bill proposed is also preferred by the casinos and major sports teams.
House Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann, R-O’Fallon, said, “Missourians are doing it right now and we are not getting the benefit from the tax standpoint.”
In the fiscal notes prepared before Wednesday’s debate, Missourians are estimated to wager around $150m annually on sporting events. The tax rate was adjusted to 8% from 10% under an amendment sponsored by Rep. Wes Rogers, D-Kansas City.
The bill needs one more vote before it can go to the Senate and is supported by all six major sports teams and by five of the six companies operating licensed casinos.
If approved, the bill would allow wagers on a game at a casino or by using a licensed online platform such as FanDuel or DraftKings. Regulating and licensing the platforms would be the Missouri Gaming Commission.
The six licensed casino operators in Missouri would be allowed to offer three platforms per casino and would cap it at six total. Both Caesar’s Entertainment and Penn National operate three casinos in the state.
Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho, sponsored an amendment that includes a self-exclusion program, a state-sponsored program to provide recovery services, with annual research on the prevalence of problem gambling and the effectiveness of prevention programs.
Baker said, “There will be an increase in problem gambling, both for new individuals coming into this utilizing the platforms with sports wagering and those that are currently struggling.”
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