Petitioners submit signatures Thursday with hopes to get sports betting on the Missouri ballot

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri petitioners turned in 340,000 signatures to the Secretary of State's office Thursday afternoon in an effort to get sports betting on the November ballot.

If passed by voters, the petitions would make it legal for Missourians to place bets on professional and college teams through casinos or platforms like Draft Kings and FanDuel. Fans could also place prop bets.

The petitions have been led by Missouri's six professional sports franchises, and backed by Winning for Missouri Education.

Jack Cardetti with Winning for Missouri Education said it has been an easy process to gather signatures for sports wagering in Missouri, saying the amount of enthusiasm on the topic has been overwhelming.

"Missourians were eager to put this on the ballot," said Jack Cardetti with Winning for Missouri Education. "They have family and friends that are driving literally a block into Kansas or across the Mississippi River into Illinois to place their bets. That doesn't make a lot of sense."

Mike Whittle with the St. Louis Cardinals said professional teams had hoped to see sports betting legalized by the legislature, but there have been too many obstacles, causing them to turn to initiative petitions.

"We're at a point where we wanted to pursue this avenue and present this issue to the Missouri citizens to vote on later this year," Whittle said.

Data from GeoComply shows the desire for sports betting is strong and growing in Missouri. During Super Bowl weekend, more than 431,000 bets were blocked in Missouri from people trying to access sportsbooks in other states.

The location detection software said this is a 51% increase from the 2023 Super Bowl.

Of those blocked bets, 48% were attempting to access Kansas sportsbooks and 37% were attempting to do the same in Illinois.

"I think our fans get it," Whittle said. "They see this revenue going outside of Missouri and they ask the question, 'Why can't we keep it in Missouri?'"

The measure presented on the petitions would tax sports bets at 10% with revenue going to Missouri's public schools.

"Right now, Missouri is one of the lowest states when it comes to teacher pay," Cardetti said. "So, certainly our classrooms, our public schools could use this permanent, dedicated funding source."

The Missouri Legislature has tried for years to pass a sports betting bill. Although it has previously passed the Missouri House of Representatives, the Senate has not come to an agreement.

Sen. Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg), who has previously blocked sports betting bills in the legislature, said he supports the initiative petition process but has several concerns with how the money will actually be spent.

He said in an email Thursday the proposal would add millions in revenue to casinos without funding Missouri veteran homes and cemeteries, and said some estimates believe it could generate $0 in tax revenue to the state.

"Overall, it would definitely be a big windfall to billionaire casinos," Hoskins said.

The signatures now need to be certified by the Secretary of State's Office, which Cardetti said he anticipates to be done around July.

Once on the ballot, questions need a simple majority to pass.

Cardetti said Missouri will be able to learn from the other 38 states who have already legalized sports gambling, with all wagers being regulated by the Missouri Gaming Commission

"We think that this is a commonsense proposal and a way that Missourians will have great access to this but be done in a responsible, safe manner."

Along with Cardetti and Whittle, speakers Thursday included Courtney Mueller with St. Louis City Soccer and Adam Sachs with the Kansas City Royals. Some team mascots also made appearances.

This comes as lawmakers are trying to pass initiative petition reform, which would make it harder for voters to get their questions on the ballot.

Initiative petition signatures are due to the Secretary of State's office on Sunday. Other petitioners are also turning in signatures to get their questions on the November ballot.