In a bid to legalize sports betting, Missouri’s professional sports teams have submitted over 340,000 voter signatures in support of a ballot proposal. The campaign received help from popular team mascots, including Fredbird from the Cardinals, Sluggerrr from the Royals, and Louie from the St. Louis Blues. These mascots eagerly delivered boxes filled with signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office in Jefferson City.
The proposed constitutional amendment would enable each of Missouri’s 13 casinos and six professional sports teams to offer onsite and mobile sports betting. Teams would be in charge of onsite betting and advertising within 400 yards of their stadiums and arenas. Additionally, the initiative would permit two mobile sports betting operators to be licensed directly by the Missouri Gaming Commission. If approved by voters, this initiative would make Missouri one of only twelve states where sports wagering is legal more than five years after the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for it.
The coalition behind this initiative includes some of Missouri’s biggest sports teams such as the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, and the Kansas City Current and St. Louis City soccer teams. This effort is an attempt to bypass legislation for sports betting that has repeatedly stalled in the Senate. Currently, 38 states and the District of Columbia allow some form of sports betting, with 30 states and Washington D