The Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) has listened to the final pitches from three betting companies who hope to be granted one of a pair of untethered licenses to operate in the state.
DraftKings, FanDuel and Circa Sports all made their presentations to the MGC on Wednesday with a decision expected within the next couple of days.
Missouri voters approved legal sports betting in the state late last year with December 1, 2025 the scheduled launch date.
An untethered license allows operators to offer an online sports betting site without needing to have a revenue-share partnership with a land-based casino or a professional sports franchise.
Several factors will come into consideration, such as a firm’s existing profile within the US, potential revenues that may be generated and how effective an operator’s approach is to responsible gambling.
An announcement regarding which two of the three companies have been awarded the licenses is expected on Friday, August 15.
Successful bidders will pay $500,000 for the untethered license to run their sports betting app, which is double the fee that an operator would have to cover for a tethered license.
Applications for tethered licenses are ongoing.
Executives from all three companies made 30-minute presentations on Wednesday before answering questions about their operations.
The Case For DraftKings
It was perhaps good timing as DraftKings had just announced new quarterly records including $1.5 billion revenue for the second quarter of 2025.
Representing the company was chief financial officer Alan Ellingson said that the betting operator has 4.8 million active monthly users in the US, with the growth potential of adding one million more per year.
The firm would customise its offering with specials on sporting rivalries within the state, such as the I-70 Major League Baseball clashes between Kansas City Royals and St Louis Cardinals.
Ellingson added that DraftKings is projecting $175 million in annual gross gaming revenue within five years of launching.
That figure is based on an average annual customer base of around 900,000, approximately one-fifth of the legal-age population in Missouri.
“We’ve seen this in other states, and we believe that Missouri will be very consistent with what we’re observing from the neighbors,” he said.
The Case For FanDuel
Speaking on behalf of FanDuel was Rich Cooper, regulatory vice president, and Stephen Higgins, senior director of growth and innovations.
They cited the fact that FanDuel already offers a daily fantasy sports app in Missouri and had proved its worth to the local community when making donations to support tornado relief in the state.
Company projections suggest that by 2034 FanDuel would be generating gross gaming revenue of $400 million annually, earning $40 million a year in tax revenue for the state.
The firm also emphasized its pro-active stance to responsible gambling which has seen the development of its new tool, Real-Time Check-in, which allows users to manage their deposit behaviour.
The Case For Circa Sports
Derek Stevens, CEO/COO of Circa Hospitality Group, acknowledged that they were up against industry heavyweights but that 95% of its handle comes from bets worth over $50.
“If you look at what company will provide the most amount of taxable revenue to the state of Missouri, our company’s not going to be able to compete,” he said.
“I realize we are a small potato compared to what was just presented in front of me.”
Stevens said that in addition to the percentage of high-value bets, Circa’s betting hold is around 3.5% compared to rates of bigger companies which are typically over 10%.
“These are very high hold percentages that have a lot of different customers who make many smaller wagers,” Stevens said.
“Circa is a little bit different. We take larger bets, we do not limit professional players.
“We focus on bigger bets, bigger volume, bigger handle.
“We’re going to attract people who are currently betting offshore who are not going to go and bet into a 14 or 16% hold market.
“We’re going to provide the value that’s really unprecedented.”
The MGC decision is due to be announced on August 15, with licensing rules scheduled to become effective on August 30.
Legal sports betting will begin on December 1.
Jim Munro is a betting industry and gambling expert who has been a national newspaper journalist for over 30 years, predominantly at The Sunday Times and The Sun, where he wrote a weekly soccer betting column. Jim also worked on the launch of Virgin Bet with Gamesys and was subsequently head of editorial at LiveScore, the sports media and betting group.
