Missouri House Bill 2088 is set to move to the House floor, even if the scope of the contents changes.
The bill calls for state-wide retail and mobile sports betting with the mobile piece tethered to a bricks-and-mortar sportsbook. Sports betting would take place via kiosk and the Missouri Lottery would be the regulator. The bill also deals in large part with video lottery terminals.
The proposal calls for a nine percent tax on gross gaming revenue, and includes a mandate for the use of official league data, but does not include an integrity fee or royalty. No state with legal sports betting has yet included an integrity fee defined as a cut off the top of the handle, and State Rep. Dan Shaul doesn’t see the need for it in Missouri, either, according to Sports Handle.
Even the mandate is negotiable in a state with four major professional sports teams, the Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals, and the St. Louis Blues.
Three states have legalized sports betting with an official league data requirement to date—Tennessee, Illinois and Michigan. All are currently in the regulatory process and do not yet have live sports betting.
Shaul’s bill is the only bill to get voted to a chamber floor. Three different Senate bills are currently in the Appropriations Committee and the two other House bills were sent to the Special Committee on Government Oversight.
Shaul would like to see the bill move with enough time for the Senate to consider it before the General Assembly adjourns in May. There is no deadline in Missouri when a bill has to be approved in its chamber of origin.
The only real opposition could come from the anti-gambling lobby.
From an operator’s perspective, Shaul’s bill would be considered the best of the bunch, with a low tax rate and state-wide mobile. There are currently 13 licensed casinos in the state, and each would be entitled to have a mobile component. Shaul said he’s open to discussing untethered mobile betting, which would allow for an even more competitive marketplace.
“I’m willing to negotiate to get (the deal) done,” he said. “When I say I am not married to anything in this bill, I’m not. I’m just married to the idea of getting it to the altar of the governor’s desk.”
