A Missouri House committee has approved a sports betting bill following the consolidation of two separate bills but have made it clear that there needs to be more discussion and compromise around the topics of problem gambling, taxes, and an ‘off-site user’s fee’.
The two bills that were in front of the committee, HB 2502 and HB 2556, were consolidated into one bill, HB 2502. An amendment was then added doubling a gambling operator’s required payment to the problem gambling fund from $250,000 to $500,000.
The amendment also places restrictions on promotional play tax write-offs. The previous bills allowed gambling companies to write off these promotional credits in perpetuity. However, the new amendment allows for a 100% write-off in the first year with a staggered decrease over the following five years. This means that five years from launch, a company could no longer write off promotional plays and credits.
Sports betting has been a hot topic in Missouri over the last 4 years as any bills that have included sports betting have failed to garner the required support in either the house or the senate.
The new bill, if signed into law, will allow each retail casino in the state to launch three digital skins with a cap of six skins per gambling operator. For example, Boyd Gaming owns two casinos in Missouri and so would be entitled to six online sports betting skins. Six more skins have been reserved for the state’s sports teams.
One major bone of contention though is how the state will tax mobile wagers. The new bill proposes an ‘off-site user fee’ that would see all online players pay a nominal fee of $2 or $3 to make wagers online though it’s not clear how often this would be charged.
The reasoning behind this is to help funnel money back to Missouri’s rural communities that will see very little of the expected sports betting windfall. If a wager is placed in their county, then some of the tax paid to the state should go directly to the local government. However, gambling companies have an issue with this and say that tracking where a user makes a bet is problematic. One solution suggested is to place a server in each county, however, this is a cost that lawmakers feel should fall on the gambling companies and not on the state.
The bill will now go to the house where bill sponsors and supporters of the bill will make their case for approval.
An experienced iGaming commentator and analyst based in New York City - Jenny reports on regulation and gambling industry news and events.