- Missouri has six states surrounding them with sports betting laws on the books.
- Despite failed efforts the past two years, Missouri may be forced to regulate sports betting in 2023.
KANSAS CITY – While Kansas is launching online sports betting Thursday, it will be Missouri that will be the most focused on the results.
Kansas is taxing sportsbooks at 10%, enough to assume $10 million in tax benefits each year.
Missouri, on the other hand, doesn’t tax sports betting at all. While legislators attempted to bring forth an agreeable sports betting bill, the 2022 session ended without any advancement. Now, they are on the outside looking in.
With Kansas launching sports betting, they join a list of other states surrounding Missouri that have online sports betting action.
- Kansas
- Iowa
- Illinois
- Tennessee
- Arkansas
In fact, of the eight states that share a border with Missouri, five of them are active (including Kansas). Likewise, Nebraska is launch pending, adding another state in the near future.
Only Oklahoma and Kentucky remain as unregulated sports betting states, though both have made serious efforts to change this matter.
Fortunately, (for Kansas and Illinois), Kansas City and St. Louis border their states. This impacts Missouri greatly as their two most populated cities have easy commutes to place sports bets online. Still, those in Columbia, Jefferson City, and Springfield have much longer commutes for a local sportsbook.
What Does This Mean Moving Forward?
While the Kansas sports betting launch is just another state to add sports betting next to Missouri, it also provides the state with addition resources of information. Aside from learning how many Missouri residents will cross into Kansas to place bets, legislators also have another industry example to build their model after.
- Kansas: Up to 50 operators, taxed at 10% mainly to the White Collar Crime Fund.
- Iowa: 6.75% tax rate but restrict prop betting on in-state collegiate teams.
- Illinois: A variable tax rate (15-17%) and restrictions on local college betting.
- Tennessee: An online online sports betting market with a tax rate at 20%.
- Arkansas: A variable tax rate (13-20%) adding money to the Arkansas general fund.
In 2021, Missouri introduced three sports betting bills and 2022 was no different. But, they did see a bill receive approval in the House. However, the Senate did not approve the measure and the race to legalization against Kansas fell short.
Expect Missouri sports betting laws to greatly consider that impact from Kansas launching Thursday. Whether noting a different tax share, realizing the number of residents leaving the state to bet, or liking certain betting restrictions, Missouri will certainly be focused on how to legalize sports betting in 2023.