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Just like Albert Pujols with the St. Louis Cardinals, sports betting in Missouri is back on deck.
The Missouri House of Representatives ed a unique sports betting proposal, Bill HB 2502, for you trivia fans, making partners out of the potential operators and six professional sports teams.
Now the bill goes forward to the Missouri Senate, which is made up of 34 State Senators (24 Republicans and 10 Democrats). The bill, in current form, calls for an 8% tax rate on revenue and does allow for bets on college and pro teams in the state.
The Senate has examined sports betting bills in the past without approval, but with neighboring states like Kansas pursuing legalization, Missouri lawmakers seemed spurred to act.
“My opinion it’s a little ridiculous that I can go to a casino and lose a thousand dollars playing blackjack. But I can’t bet 50 bucks on the Chiefs to win,” said Missouri Senator John Rizzo in a KSHB report.
Missouri creates new team of operators and sports franchises
The bill legalizes sports betting at the state’s 13 riverboat casinos and has created 39 online skins for mobile wagering. The six casino operators receive 33 of those.
Furthermore, the other six are divided among Missouri’s professional sports teams, but they will not get a retail casino spot.
Six professional teams in Missouri are the Kansas City Chiefs (NFL), St. Louis Cardinals (MLB), Kansas City Royals (MLB), and St. Louis Blues (NHL). One skin is also earmarked for the St. Louis CITY Soccer club, an expansion team in Major League Soccer.
The final skin is designated for the Kansas City Current women’s professional soccer team, making them just the second professional women’s sports franchise in America to have sports betting tie-in. The Phoenix Mercury (WNBA) has a partnership with Bally’s.
Reading fine print of working Missouri sports betting bill
The 22-page bill has two items to help promote responsible gaming, saying that Missouri Gaming will develop an annual report to assess the social and economic impact of gaming in the state.
It also creates a self-exclusion program for players in Missouri to opt out if they fill their gambling habits have grown out of control. A person who voluntarily enters the self-exclusion program would have to forfeit any subsequent winnings.
Page 21 has the big one,
“Revenues from the tax shall be deposited into the state treasury to the credit of Gaming Proceeds for Education fund.”
How much revenue could Missouri show?
Missouri ranks 18th in the nation with 6.1 million residents. Indiana, with 6.8 million citizens has a tax rate of 10.5% on sports betting revenue which put $26.5-million into the state treasury for 2021.
The current legislative session ends May 13, so if the bill es the Senate, it could be in place in time for the start of the 2022 NFL season or to watch a few of Pujol’s final at-bats for the Cardinals.
