Missouri’s long-awaited launch of sports betting has Show-Me State residents flocking online and in-person to regulated bookmakers, but don’t be shocked if what’s on offer starts to attract a fair number of out-of-state gamblers as well.
- Missouri’s launch of legal sports betting features a lighter tax burden and more competitive regulatory environment than some neighboring states, positioning it to attract residents and out-of-state bettors.
- High taxes and added per-bet fees in Illinois, along with restrictive or less appealing markets in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and potentially Kansas, could push gamblers to cross into Missouri.
- Industry leaders say the flow of bettors that once went from Missouri into nearby states could reverse.
Monday’s debut of legal sports betting in Missouri is under a regulatory and statutory framework that is more favorable to sportsbook operators than some other jurisdictions.
In terms of taxes, Missouri's regulated bookmakers are on the hook for 10% of their revenue. In neighboring Illinois, the Land of Lincoln requires online sportsbook operators to hand over 20%-40% of their revenue, in addition to a new per-bet tax of 25 or 50 cents.
Those taxes are being passed on to consumers by Illinois sports betting operators, which have employed transaction fees and increased minimum wagering requirements to try to make the math work for them in the state.
"I think you're going to see a number of people coming from the east to the west today..."@DerekJStevens joins VSiN as @CircaSports launches in the state of Missouri pic.twitter.com/F67M8opxkd
— VSiN (@VSiNLive) December 1, 2025
So, while Missourians were once forced to travel to Illinois (or Arkansas, or Iowa, or Kansas) to make legal sports bets, they can now stay home. It’s also possible that residents of Illinois could start crossing over into Missouri to avoid paying sportsbook transaction fees.
According to Circa Sports CEO Derek Stevens, whose company now offers online sports betting in both Illinois and Missouri, the momentum has swung toward the latter market.
“I think it's going to be very interesting … to see how many people now go over the border into Missouri,” Stevens told Covers in an interview Monday. “You're going from a state with a very noncompetitive regulatory environment now in Illinois to a state with a very strong regulatory environment in Missouri. You've had a lot of people from Missouri going across the state line to go bet in Illinois. I think the tide has completely changed.”
No transaction fees, no problem
Illinois could already be getting stung by the new per-bet tax and the responses by operators to mitigate the financial hit.
For example, the Illinois Gaming Board reported recently that state sportsbooks took more than 28.5 million bets on professional sports in September. However, in September 2024, those same sportsbooks handled more than 33 million bets on pro sports.
Stevens said he’s had a number of people reach out to him already to express their joy at not having to leave Missouri to make a bet. That could be doubly true if they were forking over a little extra for a wager in Illinois.
“Doesn't matter where they live, they're all going to be betting in Missouri now,” Stevens said. “They're not going to be paying a 50-cent or 25-cent fee on a bet.”
It's possible, then, that Missouri's sports betting market could put additional financial pressure on the Illinois sports betting market. It's also possible that Missouri’s state-regulated sportsbooks attract some business from its other neighboring states, albeit for different reasons.
There is, for instance, no legalized sports betting yet in Oklahoma. Therefore, some Oklahomans could decide to make their way to Missouri to place a few bets.
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Brand loyalty
Arkansas, meanwhile, has legalized sports betting, but it doesn’t have the same brands as Missouri boasts, some of which have nationwide clout. This is due to the majority of Arkansas revenue going to casino operators and not the sportsbook operators that the casinos have as partners.
The revenue-sharing rules have kept companies like DraftKings and FanDuel on the sidelines in Arkansas; not so in Missouri, though. So, someone in Arkansas could conceivably travel north to Missouri to patronize the sportsbooks there.
Former St Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green before placing the ceremonial first bet at Horseshoe St Louis pic.twitter.com/dwZZ7PPMoS
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) December 1, 2025
Then there’s Kansas, a state that has had a competitive market for online sports betting since 2022. That market has benefited from a lack of legal sports betting in nearby Missouri.
However, Kansas lawmakers decided this year to pause any contract-extension negotiations the local regulator was conducting with licensed sportsbook operators.
While the pause will end next year, and the sportsbook contracts run into 2027, some lawmakers are also kicking around proposed changes for the Kansas sports betting market, such as a higher tax rate.
Solo FOMO
Another idea that’s been mooted is moving to a single-provider model with the Kansas Lottery.
The idea is that a single operator could yield more tax revenue for the state, but it would also deprive Kansas bettors of brands they’re currently using. Those same brands would then be available in Missouri, and Kansas bettors could be willing to make a trip to keep using them.
"Right now, Kansas benefits greatly from Missouri not having legal sports betting," said John Pappas, a lobbyist appearing on behalf of the iDevelopment and Economic Association, during a Kansas legislative committee meeting in September. "We see thousands of bettors crossing state lines on a weekly basis into Kansas to place those bets. We may either lose those bettors entirely, or, if Kansas raises their (tax) rate, we may lose Kansas bettors going into Missouri where they can find better odds, better pricing, and more competitive markets."
The pressure of a competitive market in Missouri also comes as states deal with the challenge of nationwide sports betting via federally regulated prediction markets.
Those exchanges are offering a relatively basic form of sports betting compared to what state-regulated bookmakers can boast. Nevertheless, prediction markets are indeed a form of competition for state-regulated sportsbooks in Missouri and beyond, which is why several court battles are ongoing over the legality of prediction market-offered sports event contracts.
"I don't think it's widely understood what prediction markets are going to do to tax revenues," Circa's Stevens said Monday. "And I think as it gets more widely understood, people are going to say, 'Whoa, what's going on?'"
