In his ongoing crusade to get sports betting legalized in Missouri, Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said legal sports betting in Missouri could give the team a “competitive edge.”
It was DeWitt’s latest plea to state legislators to get the sports betting bill passed. He has threatened to organize a petition to put an initiative on the November 2024 ballot.
DeWitt said if sports betting was legal in the Show Me State that it would give professional sports teams another source of revenue. That would allow them to go after high-profile free agents or even sign players that may be otherwise cost prohibitive.
“My job is to drive revenue and manage the business,” DeWitt said, as reported by KSDK. “This is a new revenue category. So from that standpoint, it’s important. And we’ve always tried to be very aggressive with our payroll, but obviously keeping in mind what’s possible given our revenues.”
The Cardinals rank 16th out of 30 MLB teams in payroll spending. A 2018 study commissioned by the casino industry projected the four major sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL) could boost combined team revenue by $4.2 billion if sportsbooks drove higher fan engagement at stadiums and brought new licensing or sponsorship opportunities to franchises.
“It’s a new business and it’s a new industry, so it remains to be seen to what extent,” DeWitt told KSDK. “But I think it would definitely increase our revenue streams, no question.”
DeWitt, however, has been frustrated with lawmakers and said his arguments have fallen on deaf ears.
“We’ve tried that one,” DeWitt said. “We’ve tried everything in Jeff City.”
The problem has been with the state Senate. The House passed the bill relatively easily. It was sent to the Upper Body but has sat there with no action taken on it.
One senator, Denny Hoskins, has been accused of stalling the bill and not allowing it on the floor for a vote. He is trying to get video lottery terminals attached to the sports betting bill.
“Based on our discussions in the Senate, we have one senator standing in the way who can filibuster it, and that’s Denny Hoskins,” DeWitt said, as per KSDK. “That’s why this is so frustrating. And it would be one thing if Senator Hoskins was just philosophically opposed to betting. I get that. We’d take our toys and move out.”
If the legislature fails to pass the sports betting bill then DeWitt said the push will definitely come to get it before voters on the November 2024 ballot “We would have enough time for that if we chose to do it,” DeWitt said. “All the options are on the table here. We think it’s a winning issue in Missouri.”
