Missouri’s professional sports teams are pushing for a ballot measure to legalize sports betting in November. The teams, assisted by mascots from the Cardinals, Royals, and Blues, delivered over 340,000 voter signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office in Jefferson City on Thursday. Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft will need to verify the signatures before the proposal can be added to the ballot, with around 180,000 signatures needed for qualification.
The effort to legalize sports betting in Missouri through a ballot measure comes after bills in the Senate have stalled repeatedly. The coalition of teams supporting the measure includes the Cardinals, Blues, Chiefs, Royals, and both Kansas City and St. Louis soccer teams.
Missouri is one of twelve states where sports wagering remains illegal more than five years after the U.S. Supreme Court gave states the green light to legalize it. If approved by voters, an initiative would allow Missouri’s 13 casinos and six professional sports teams to provide on-site and mobile sports betting within 400 yards of their stadiums and arenas. Two mobile sports betting operators could also be licensed by the Missouri Gaming Commission under this proposed constitutional amendment.
A minimum of $5 million in annual licensing fees and taxes would be allocated to programs addressing problem gambling if this initiative were approved by voters. The remaining revenue would go toward education initiatives aimed at improving literacy rates among disadvantaged students in our state’s poorest communities. This is a much-needed step towards creating more opportunities for these children who are often left behind due to poverty or lack of resources elsewhere in their lives.”
