Missouri lawmakers have filed two house bills —HB581 and HB556 — that if passed will see sports betting legalized in the Show Me State.
Rep. Phil Christofanelli, sponsor of HB 581 said of the moves to legalize sports wagering:
“It’s just been too long since our Legislature hasn’t acted on this issue, which is so important to many of our constituents.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Dan Houx, sponsor of HB 556 added:
“Today, with geofencing, we can see people crossing the Missouri River and the Mississippi River in St. Louis, they have a red light on, it turns green, they make a U-turn at the next exit and head home.”
According to reports, as many as 16,000 people attempted to place sports bets online from within Missouri state lines on the first day of legal sports betting in neighboring state Kansas. Kansas, Arkansas, Illinois and Iowa all now have legal sports betting live while Nebraska has passed legislation but has yet to launch its industry.
The two bills include a similar taxation process as neighboring Kansas with the rate set at 10%. Estimates for both bills state that tax revenue from the industry could amount to as much as $15 to $20 million per year.
However, Houx noted that unlike previous attempts to legalize sports betting in Missouri, neither bill includes any proposed regulation for video lottery terminals.
“I’ve always believed that video lottery and sports betting are two separate bills, so it’s just one bill for sports betting.”
He went on to add:
“We’re back, we’ll keep working hard on it. I believe it will be one of the top 10 bills to come out of the House this year.”
An experienced iGaming commentator and analyst based in New York City - Jenny reports on regulation and gambling industry news and events.