Two gambling bills are moving through the Missouri Legislature. One would legalize sports betting and one would allow video lottery terminals.
HB 119, sponsored by state Rep. Cody Smith, would authorize Missouri’s existing casinos to allow betting on professional sports games–not collegiate sports. Online and mobile bets would be allowed. Analysts estimated sports gambling could generate $2-$11 million in extra revenue.
Unlike other states’ sports wagering bills, Smith’s calls for paying extra fees to the state and to professional sports teams—a wagering tax paid by casinos and a royalty fee for professional teams to help subsidize sports facility maintenance. Smith said, “I don’t particularly care for that. I don’t like how we subsidize leagues. But the argument is because of the economic impact that leagues have on our state, this is our part of helping to reduce the costs for that infrastructure in the state.”
The Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals both support the bill. However, the Missouri Gaming Association, representing the state’s 13 casinos, oppose the legislation’s additional fees. MGA Executive Director Mike Winter said, “The margin on sports wagering is very small. They are effectively extra taxes, and those are something the industry has opposed across the country.”
The MGA also opposes state Rep. Dan Shaul’s HB 423, which would legalize video lottery terminals statewide at establishments that have liquor licenses. State Rep. Lane Roberts said he supports Shaul’s bill since it would offer a framework for legally operating the games. “Coming from a law enforcement perspective, there are a lot of those machines being operated, but the way of identifying those machines is difficult. We have the ability to provide a legal method for doing that, rendering the illegal ones irrelevant,” he said.
Winter commented, “This bill has the potential to put slot machines in places that Missourians never envisioned. We should just take the steps to remove illegal machines instead of making the argument that it’s easier to just allow them.”
The Missouri legislative session will end May 17.
