Missouri sports bettors won’t see a noticeable impact from the Kansas City Chiefs’ pending move to Kansas.
- The Kansas City Chiefs’ planned move to Kansas will not change Missouri’s lineup of live mobile sportsbooks.
- Kansas sports betting will also remain unaffected, as state law requires books to partner with casinos, not teams.
- Missouri lawmakers proposed a symbolic bill targeting team sportsbook partnerships, but it is unlikely to advance.
The NFL club was one of six Missouri professional sports franchises that could partner with a third-party mobile sportsbook for state market access. Though sponsored by multiple operators, the Chiefs did not strike an access partnership with any live Missouri mobile book.
This means Missouri’s eight live sportsbooks - bet365, BetMGM, Circa, Caesars, DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel and theScore Bet - can all remain live in Missouri even after the Chiefs leave.
The team’s pending 2031 move from suburban Kansas City, Missouri, to Wyandotte County, Kansas, will remove one eligible licensee, but it was unlikely to ever strike such a deal after declining to do so ahead of the state’s mobile sports betting launch on Dec. 1, 2025. The Chiefs, like the other five Missouri pro sports teams, also declined to open a retail book next to their home venue, Arrowhead Stadium.
There are eight mobile sportsbooks live in Missouri; two partnered with pro sports teams, four partnered with in-state casinos, and two that earned “untethered” licenses that didn’t require third-party market access deals.
Impact on Kansas
The Chiefs’ move won’t have a direct sports betting impact on Kansas, either.
All six live Kansas mobile sportsbooks are required by law to partner with one of the state’s four brick-and-mortar casinos. Current law would prohibit the Chiefs from opening an on-property retail book at their new stadium.
Though it won’t impact the roster of eligible sportsbooks in either state, the move could hurt betting handle in Missouri, at least on Chiefs game days. There were more than 10,000 active betting accounts from users around Arrowhead Stadium during the Chiefs’ Dec. 7 game against the Houston Texans, according to findings from geofencing supplier GeoComply, resulting in more than 43,000 geolocation checks.
Missouri’s revenue report for its first month of legal sports betting is expected to be released in January’s second half.
Market access revocation bill introduced
In response to the move, a Missouri lawmaker has introduced legislation that would prohibit the Chiefs from having a sports betting partner while still in the Show-Me State.
State Sen. Nick Schroer’s proposed constitutional amendment would strip Missouri NFL teams from being able to partner with a third-party sportsbook or open an on-property retail book. The amendment would appear on the 2028 ballot, but even if approved by voters, it would only prohibit such a partnership for the three years the team is still scheduled to play in Missouri.
Voters narrowly approved Missouri sports betting legalization via a separate constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot.
The new measure, which seems unlikely to make the ballot, is largely symbolic. The Chiefs have given no indication they will pursue a market access agreement. Even so, the eight live books make up more than 95% of the national revenue market share, further disincentivizing such a deal.
The Chiefs have played at Arrowhead Stadium since 1972, the second-longest consecutive tenure at one stadium of any NFL team behind only the Green Bay Packers’ stay at Lambeau Field that began in 1957. Missouri lost its other NFL team, the then St. Louis Rams, when it relocated to Los Angeles in 2016.
