Public Commentary Now Open For Missouri Sports Betting Rules

Anyone that hoped to weigh in on the proposed Missouri sports betting rules can now submit those thoughts to regulators.

The Missouri Gaming Commission will accept public comment on its proposed rules through July 16. It will then hold a public hearing on July 17 at 9 am local time.

“Comments must reference a specific rule,” the MGC says on its website. “Providing specific alternative language is encouraged.”

The Missouri sports betting market goes live Dec. 1.

Next Missouri sports betting application deadline

Any operator interested in one of the two standalone Missouri sports betting licenses has two weeks left to submit its application.

There may already be two companies that applied for the standalone licenses. The MGC told Legal Sports Report that DraftKings and Underdog have both submitted their applications and neither has publicly announced a license partner for the market.

Those applications are due July 15. A hearing concerning all the applicants will be held Aug. 13 with the winners announced two days later.

September deadline for the rest of the applicants

Operators that are not interested in the standalone licenses have almost two additional months to submit their applications.

Any company that is partnering with a licensee must apply by Sept. 12 if they want to be live on Dec. 1, the MGC said.

There are 21 licenses total in the market, with 19 potential partners available with the 13 riverboats and six professional sports teams.

Two of those partnerships are already announced. Bet365 is partnering with the St. Louis Cardinals while BetMGM is partnered with Century Casinos.

Missouri sports betting cheaper for bettors?

Bettors on the Missouri/Illinois border may be eagerly awaiting the launch of Missouri sportsbooks with the new per-bet tax now live in Illinois.

Operators must pay 25 cents for each wager placed up to 20 million annually. Any book that takes more than 20 million bets annually, so far just DraftKings and FanDuel in the state, will pay a 50-cent fee for those bets.

Both of those operators announced they would be passing the cost along to bettors after each already worked to offset last year’s tax increases in Illinois. Fanatics also told Sports Business Journal that it would pass the fee on to customers.

DraftKings and FanDuel will start the fee Sept. 1. Fanatics did not say when its fee will begin.