Missouri’s eligible sportsbook partners are set to begin taking bets in the state Dec. 1 without any wagers coming from in-person sportsbooks at stadiums.
- Missouri sports betting launches Dec. 1, but no teams filed for in-stadium sportsbooks despite being eligible.
- Cardinals and St. Louis CITY SC are the only Missouri teams with sportsbook partners so far.
- Online betting is expected to dominate the market, with 95% or more of wagers placed via mobile apps.
A 2024 ballot measure narrowly passed by voters made Missouri among a handful of legal sports betting jurisdictions that permit in-stadium sportsbooks. None of the six potential pro sports venues that can legally house retail books within or adjacent to their respective stadiums have announced plans to do so.
The measure allowed two “untethered” online sportsbook operators to enter the state without affiliating with a Missouri casino or sports team. All other operators have partnered with one of the other parties for in-person or online licensure eligibility.
Only two of the six pro teams – MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals and MLS’ St. Louis CITY SC – have announced third-party sportsbook partners ahead of the Dec. 1 launch. Though the other four could strike deals in the coming months, none are positioned to take bets on the go-live date.
Cardinals executives were among the most prominent voices backing the 2024 measure. The team has sought to make its Ballpark Village entertainment district next to Busch Stadium a year-round destination, which would lend itself to opening a sportsbook available to customers even during the Cardinals’ offseason.
But the team did not file a retail book application ahead of a deadline that would permit a Dec. 1 opening. Its sportsbook partner, UK-based bet365, notably doesn’t operate any retail books in the U.S.
St. Louis CITY announced FanDuel as its sportsbook partner shortly after the sportsbook lost out on one of the two untethered bids. In the release announcing the deal, the team did not indicate it would open a FanDuel-branded retail book by its Energizer Park home stadium west of downtown St. Louis.
FanDuel applying for the untethered Missouri sports betting license also indicates the team did not prioritize a retail book in Missouri.
The NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and MLB’s Kansas City Royals share a sports complex that is several miles from downtown. Both teams are looking at new stadiums, potentially in neighboring Kansas, likely diminishing interest in retail books as their future playing site remains unresolved.
The NHL’s St. Louis Blues and the NWSL’s Kansas City Current are the other two potential Missouri teams.
Changes to betting habits
Sportsbooks’ decisions not to open retail shops at stadiums comes as in-person betting makes up an increasingly small percentage of their revenues.
In-person betting made around 15 to 20% of total handle in the months after the Supreme Court stuck down the federal wagering ban that prohibited single-game sports wagering outside Nevada. That number has dwindled to around 5% as online sportsbooks become more robust and readily available.
Since 2018, major U.S. sportsbooks have improved their online platforms to offer hundreds or even thousands of bets on individual games. The companies have also expanded – and prioritized – lucrative single-game parlays that allow bettors to stack an increasing number of legs, a betting option that is far easier to place on a mobile device than in-person.
The leading books are also investing hundreds of millions of dollars in expanding live and in-play betting. These offerings keep bettors engaged longer and, like parlays, have higher profit margins than traditional pre-game point spread or totals bets.
BetMGM Sportsbook at Nationals Park to close at season's end (h/t @TalkNats) https://t.co/cnCqWvpzkM
— Mike Mazzeo (@MazzNYC) September 23, 2025
Even for bettors at stadium sportsbooks, presumably some of the most engaged sports gamblers, online platforms are more convenient than betting windows and kiosks.
Now, like in Missouri, most of the jurisdictions that permit in-person sportsbook have seen at least one of the books close – or not open in the first place.
Washington, D.C., the first jurisdiction to open an in-person sportsbook, has seen two of its three books announce their closure, including the BetMGM book at Nationals Park at the end of the 2025 MLB season. Retail books in Phoenix, Cleveland, and Cincinnati have also shut down.
In neighboring Illinois, the DraftKings book at the Cubs’ Wrigley Field is the only open retail book; none of the state’s other pro teams have opened books despite the option to do so. Even with the amenities most of these books offer including walls of televisions along with food and drink options, the ability to place an in-person bet is no longer a draw to the vast majority of the betting public.
Casinos offer in-person betting options
There will still be eight in-person options for Missouri sports bettors spread across state casinos.
Ameristar casinos in the St. Louis and Kansas City regions will have Fanatics-branded books. Caesars will open its eponymous retail books at its Harrah’s Kansas City and Horseshoe St. Louis properties.
PENN Entertainment will open ESPN BET books at all three of its Missouri casinos: Argosy Kansas City as well as Hollywood and River City near St. Louis. Century Casino in Cape Girardeau is set to open a BetMGM book via a partnership with MGM.
8 Missouri casinos have applied to open retail sportsbooks:
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) September 18, 2025
Ameristar St. Louis (Fanatics)
Ameristar Kansas City (Fanatics)
Argosy KC (ESPN BET)
Century Cape Girardeau (BetMGM)
Harrah's KC (Caesars)
Hollywood STL (ESPN BET)
Horseshoe STL (Caesars)
River City STL (ESPN BET)
Missouri could also see nine or more mobile books come Dec. 1.
DraftKings and Circa have already earned mobile licenses and are set to go live Dec. 1. They will likely be joined by bet365 and FanDuel as well as Caesars, ESPN BET, BetMGM and Fanatics.
Underdog applied for a sports betting license but has not disclosed its required market access partner. Kambi, a third-party sports betting tech supplier, has also applied for a sports betting license, but it hasn’t announced a sportsbook partner or plans for a consumer-facing platform.
As with most of the other 29 states with mobile and retail sportsbooks, online wagering is expected to make up 95% or more of Missouri’s total betting handle.
