Missouri sports bettors will have one of the longest wait times from legalization to first bet of any U.S. jurisdiction to approve legal sports betting since 2018.
- Missouri bettors waited nearly 13 months from approval to launch, the sixth-longest rollout among legal U.S. betting markets.
- A denied emergency regulation request pushed launch from June to December, costing the state significant football-season tax revenue.
- Eight major sportsbooks, including FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, and bet365, will finally go live statewide Dec. 1.
Missouri voters approved sports betting in November 2024. With legal betting beginning Dec. 1, bettors will have waited nearly 13 months from legalization to first bet.
The Show-Me State ranks sixth among the 23 states (and Washington DC) in wait time to begin statewide mobile sports betting after approval, ahead of only Maryland (24 months), Maine (18 months), Tennessee (18 months), Louisiana (14 months), and Michigan.
Missouri’s wait from the Nov. 5 ballot measure vote to the Dec. 1 launch will be 391 days, slightly quicker than Michigan’s 400-day wait. Missouri slots just ahead of Ohio, which waited 375 days from approval to first online bet.
The national median average was nine months.
Neighboring Kansas and Iowa had the two quickest turnarounds of any jurisdictions at 81 days and 95 days, respectively. They were the only two jurisdictions with a launch timeline under four months.
These timelines from approval, either by constitutional ballot measure or legislation, do not include Nevada or a handful of other states that had previously legalized sports betting before the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that struck down the federal wagering ban.
Missouri's sports betting delay explained
Like all other jurisdictions that legalized sportsbooks, Missouri had to approve ensuing sports betting regulations following legalization. This covered key aspects including license eligibility, financial disclosures, and a host of other regulatory requirements.
Missouri regulators had hoped the process would take eight months. External forces pushed it to nearly 13.
The Missouri Gaming Commission originally targeted a June 30 launch, but that required approval for “emergency” regulations from the Secretary of State’s Office. Denny Hoskins, elected to the office on the same ballot that approved sports betting, denied the request, determining sports betting authorization didn’t reach the emergency threshold.
At 391 days, Missouri's mobile sports betting launch wait between legalization (ballot measure approval or bill signing) and first bet will be the sixth longest of the 32 jurisdictions to approve statewide mobile wagering, trailing only Maryland, Maine, Tennessee, Louisiana &…
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) November 26, 2025
This delayed implementation by five months. Missouri bettors missed the full 2025 regular and MLB postseasons and will miss essentially all of this year’s college football regular season.
The Show-Me State will also miss out on most regular season games for the NFL, the nation’s most wagered-upon sports league.
Missouri sports betting projects to take in more than $400 million in handle during December 2025. Assuming roughly a 10% operator hold ($40 million) and the mandated 10% tax on gross gaming revenue, that would mean about $4 million, or 1% of the overall handle.
A launch before football season’s September kickoff would have presumably quadrupled that tax revenue, a factor regulators argued when pushing for the emergency regulations.
Missouri sportsbook options
After the long postponement, Missouri sports bettors will have in-state access to sportsbooks that accept more than 95% of the national handle.
FanDuel and DraftKings, the two U.S. revenue market-share leaders, are set to go live Dec. 1. Other major national brands including Fanatics, Caesars, BetMGM, and bet365 are also set to go live on the state’s universal go-live date.
PENN Entertainment’s theScore Bet, the company’s replacement for ESPN BET, will also start taking bets in Missouri Dec. 1 in conjunction with its nationwide rebranding. Circa Sportsbook, an operator known for high betting limits and its “sharp” customer base, will also launch that day.
Missouri will offer eight live mobile books. Underdog, which had earned a mobile sportsbook license earlier this year, announced earlier this month it no longer planned to offer real money sports betting.
