Missouri Sports Betting Launch might Come Before Kansas Sportsbook Changes

Missouri sports betting bettors have crossed into Kansas for nearly 3 years to place legal sports bets. Three years from now, Kansas locals may do the very same.

Key takeaways

– Kansas legislators halted brand-new sportsbook license extensions until 2026, sports betting hinting at possible regulatory changes that could impact its six legal operators after 2027.

– Missouri is set to release legal mobile sportsbooks in late 2025, possibly reversing cross-border wagering trends as Kansas bettors may head east.

– Future changes in Kansas might include a sole-operator model or tax hikes, impacting competition and encouraging gamblers to look for alternatives in Missouri.

Kansas sports betting wagering background

Kansas released its very first legal mobile sportsbooks in 2022. Six books now take bets: BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, ESPN BET, Fanatics and FanDuel.

The ability to position legal bets in Kansas attracts bettors on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro area to Kansas to wager, with some doing so most or nearly every day of the week.

That might alter if Kansas legislators upend the existing regulative structure. Sources inform Covers some legislators wish to increase the state’s sports wagering tax earnings, among the least expensive per capita of any of the 30 states with statewide legal mobile sportsbooks.

Kansas’ likely reconsideration of its six-book legal sports betting market next year will follow Missouri goes cope with as many as a lots books; if Kansas considerably cuts its offerings, it might lead KS gamblers to place bets in MO, the opposite of the present pattern

The alterations might be as easy as a tax increase. It might also lead to a sole-source operator design some legislators are thinking about, one that could produce more direct profits for the state however potentially require out some or all of the 6 existing sportsbooks once their licenses expire in Aug. 2027.

The legislation passed previously this month just positions a prohibition up until 2026, indicating Kansas’ current sportsbooks can take bets till their licenses expire the list below year. Lawmakers may not even consider a dramatic modification to the regulative structure when they reconvene for the 2026 session, suggesting no noticeable effect for Sunflower State bettors.

But the license extension restriction leaves the possibility for remarkable modifications that didn’t seem feasible weeks back.

Missouri sportsbooks prepare to launch

The Kansas move comes as Missouri nears the launch of its legal sportsbooks.

Missouri’s multi-year sports wagering legalization push ended in Nov. 2024, when citizens directly authorized a tally procedure to bring legal retail and online sportsbooks to the state. The vote followed years of failed efforts to legislate sports betting in the legislature.

Missouri’s legal sportsbooks are set to begin taking bets in the 4th quarter of 2025. There are also set to be almost twice as many wagering alternatives in Missouri as Kansas.

FanDuel and more than $30 million to support the tally measure. The two U.S. market share leaders have, as expected, announced strategies to take bets in Missouri when licensed.

Other books including BetMGM, BetRivers and Underdog also revealed launch strategies. Bet365 struck a deal with MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals and also prepares to accept bets in the state.

Caesars, which opposed the tally step over license allocation concerns, runs 3 Missouri gambling establishments and is eligible to release its online book in the state. Penn Entertainment (ESPN BET) and Bally’s (Bally Bet) also operate Missouri gambling establishments that approve them immediate market gain access to.

Other books including Acid rock, sports betting reside in Illinois, could likewise pursue one of roughly two-dozen potential Missouri sports betting licenses.

The larger array of Show Me State betting choices might attract Kansas bettors in the Kansas City metro location to Missouri to put bets, reversing years of gambler traffic going the opposite direction. This might accelerate if the Sunflower State curtails its sportsbook roster, especially if DraftKings and/or FanDuel can no longer accept bets.

Missouri voters in the Kansas City city were the most ardent supporters of the sports betting wagering tally procedure, which could highlight homeowners’ interest in placing bets in their home state when books go live.

Missouri’s sports wagering lineup is uncertain ahead of the 2025 launch. Kansas’ sportsbooks might change too in the occurring years.