Missouri All Set to Push for Sports Betting Legalization in 2023

Missouri has been lagging insofar as its sports betting laws are concerned. With more than 30 states and the District of Columbia legalizing their betting industries, State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer is now seeking to right what he sees as a wrong. This is why the lawmaker has prefiled a bill that could make wagers on sports betting events completely legal during the 2023 legislative session.

Missouri Makes an Early Move on Sports Betting in 2023

It will be a tight race, with the session beginning on January 4 and running through May 12, but Luetkemeyer feels confident that he can bring about a positive change to his state. There has not been too serious opposition against sports betting in Missouri, with a bill briefly pitched in the last session, but falling from the agenda eventually as no time was found to put it to a vote.

Luetkemeyer, though, feels confident about the chances of the new bill making the floor during the upcoming session. The senator is confident that there is much good that Missouri can derive from regulating and legalizing its sports gambling industry, giving an example with Kansas, which also passed betting laws recently.

Schools in Missouri stand to benefit, as his bill wants to fund education in the state from gambling tax revenue. There are other considerations as well, Luetkemeyer notes, as both Illinois and Kansas – Missouri’s neighbors – offer regulated sports betting, which means that the state itself will be losing tax dollars if it fails to act.

Already, many residents of Missouri are crossing the border with both states to place a regulated wager. Luetkemeyer insists that this is costing Missouri dearly and the money could be allocated instead to bolstering the educational purse. But Illinois and Kansas are not the only states to have legalized sports betting, with Arkansas, Nebraska, and Iowa already featuring some form of wagering as well, which leaves Missouri out of the equation.

The Inside Out of Luetkemeyer’s Law

To fix this, Missouri lawmakers will have to come together and reunite in a vote. Because of Luetkemeyer’s prompt reaction, the bill should get good traction right from the start, heading to a committee that should then push it for a hearing or voting date.

Luetkemeyer’s bill is well-thought-through, as it would allow for in-person and internet sports wagering as long as the people placing the wager are physically located in the state of Missouri. Under the bill, professional sports teams will be able to obtain sports district mobile licensees, and excursion gambling boats – a loop in the current betting legislation – will be allowed to also apply for a license.

An application fee for a license would be around $150,000, but no greater, with an annual renewal fee at $125,000. Meanwhile, Luetkemeyer has called for a 10% tax on the adjusted gross receipts from sports wagering by licensed holders.