In Missouri, Penn National Gaming Vice President of Public Affairs Jeff Morris recently brought together representatives from each of the state’s casinos plus the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, Sporting KC, and the Kansas City Current to discuss sports betting and video lottery terminals. St. Louis Cardinals President William DeWitt III said, “As you know, we’ve been at it for a few years. We knew the VLTs were a big issue for casinos and thought we would come together and see if we can manage the bifurcation of that issue for them.”
DeWitt continued, “So we had conversations, good conversations with lawmakers last year, but we didn’t really get to a place where we made a deal, so, one, it failed again that the VLTs were part of it, and two, we started seeing other states being able to do it. So, it was kind of like we kept doing the same thing with the same result and it just wasn’t working.”
Morris arranged for casino and pro team executives to meet several times last year. As St. Louis Blues Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Steve Chapman explained, “I’ll give you a great line from our GM Doug Armstrong. He said, ‘I think we are all comfortably uncomfortable,’ which probably means you’ve found a great compromise.”
The group supports statewide mobile sports betting, with operators tethered to existing gaming locations. Each location would have three skins, capped at six per gaming company. Both Penn National (Barstool Sportsbook) and Caesars own three properties in the state; the remaining three skins from their properties would be assigned to the six professional sports teams. Boyd Gaming (FanDuel), Century Casinos and Affinity Gaming each have two retail properties and Bally’s has one. The total would come to 39 skins, sufficient for allowing each major operator and many others to gain market access.
The teams have agreed not to have brick-and-mortar sportsbooks at their facilities, but they could partner with a digital operator, market and advertise sports betting and build sports lounges in their facilities where patrons could watch games and wager via phone.
A key part of the agreement is that the stadiums and surrounding areas would not be geofenced. So, for example, if the Cardinals are partnered with Penn National’s Barstool Sportsbook, a fan in the bleachers could bet on the app of DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars or any other operator from within Busch Stadium. It’s a significant departure from what other pro teams have negotiated.
The agreement already has been incorporated into several bills in the Missouri legislature, including legislation sponsored by state Senators Dan Hegeman and Tony Luetkemeyer state Reps. Phil Christofanelli and Dan Houx have filed in the House. Hegeman said, “I think it is unusual, but I think it shows the level of momentum within the industry to see sports betting pass and to see Missouri keep up with our surrounding states. I always think it helps to have more advocates for legislation than less, but the fact still remains that the bill must go through the legislative process.”
That’s where it butts up against state Senator Denny Hoskins, who has unsuccessfully pushed for legalized sports betting since 2018, partly because Hoskins insists VLTs be legalized too. He said, “I’ve been working on this for five years. Number one, if you think I am just going to sit back and let somebody else take the bill, make the compromises and have the discussion, you don’t know how the Senate works. Any sports betting comes through my office. It’s great that they have been working together, and they gave language to Dan Hegeman. But I am a ‘no’ on this bill. I can run circles around anyone who brings it up and tie it in knots. It’s not what I want to do, but I will, and I will make someone look silly in committee.”
Chapman said the agreement between casinos and teams was not meant to remove Hoskins from the process. Hoskins is “obviously very key and very important to this. We had no intention or any direct purpose of going around Senator Hoskins. I think there were some misunderstandings there, so I hope through some meetings and discussions we can move forward,” Chapman said, adding Hoskins recently met with several team representatives and expressed some “choice words.”
Hoskins clarified that comment. He said, “I told the teams and casinos since they decided not to include me in negotiations, they have to sell me on the bill. I just met with the teams and I tore into them, and said, ‘Hey, this is the way it’s going to be.’ Any language is going to be approved by my office, my door has always been open but these guys are going to somebody who is not a fan of VLTs.”
The casino-pro team coalition has made it clear they would not support any bills that combine sports betting and VLTs. DeWitt said, “We’re certainly open to talking to Senator Hoskins on anything he wants to talk about. But the way the marketplace has played out, that’s kind of dictated what things will look like. I just don’t know that the range of outcomes he thinks exist are still out there.”
Missouri was considered to be one of the first states to legalize sports betting when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the ban against it. But in the four years since then, residents who want to bet on sports have been traveling to Illinois, Iowa or Tennessee. But there may be an advantage to being “last to the table,” Chapman said, which is, “You get see how everyone else eats. Seriously, the best way to get something done is through compromise, and you wish that were true of a lot of other things besides sports betting legislation. When you have the right people in the room trying to find the best solution so we have a great solution for the state, then it works.”
Morris, who organized the coalition, said he brought the casinos and pro teams together partly out of frustration with the situation in Missouri, but also hoping Missouri could become a model for the 20 states that still haven’t legalized sports wagering. “We wanted to see if we had any success, and if we do, maybe this can be a model in the remaining states that are considering legal sports betting. We look forward to continuing to work with the legislature, teams, and our partners in Missouri, and are hopeful that we can finally get this over the goal line this spring.”
