Is Sports Betting Legal in Missouri? Yes, Live Since December 2025

Yes. Sports betting is legal in Missouri. It launched statewide on December 1, 2025, making Missouri the 39th state with legal wagering and the newest market in the country. If you’re 21+ and inside state lines, both mobile apps and retail sportsbooks at Missouri casinos are live, regulated by the Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC).

Missouri’s path here was the closest gambling vote in modern American history, and the market it produced has a license structure unlike anywhere else. Both are worth understanding.

Quick facts

The apps live in Missouri

The MGC awarded its first temporary online licenses on October 22, 2025, and the launch roster includes:

bet365, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, Circa Sports, DraftKings, ESPN BET, Fanatics Sportsbook, FanDuel, and Underdog Sports.*

*Penn’s sportsbook has been rebranding from ESPN BET to theScore Bet; check your app store for the current name.

Missouri’s license design is the interesting part: up to 14 online licenses in three buckets.

The team-tethered bucket exists because Missouri’s pro franchises didn’t just support legalization. They ran it.

The Amendment 2 story: legal betting by a few hundred votes

Missouri watched every neighbor legalize first. Kansas launched in 2022, and Chiefs fans on the Missouri side of the metro spent three NFL seasons driving across State Line Road to place a legal bet. The legislature tried and failed repeatedly; sports betting bills kept dying in the state Senate over unrelated gambling disputes.

So Missouri’s professional teams took it to the voters. A coalition led by the Cardinals, Chiefs, Royals, and Blues bankrolled the Amendment 2 campaign for November 2024, and it squeaked through by the thinnest margin imaginable:

• Election night: ahead by 4,366 votes out of nearly 3 million cast, about 0.15%.
• County-by-county official canvasses narrowed it further, to just a few hundred votes by the final tallies.
• Opponents examined the numbers and declined to request a recount; the result was certified in December 2024.

The MGC then spent 2025 writing rules and licensing operators, and wagering went live statewide on December 1, 2025, in time for the NFL stretch run. Missourians bet more than $543 million in the first month alone.

How betting works in Missouri

• 21 or older, verified at signup.
• Physically inside Missouri for mobile bets, enforced by geolocation. The Kansas-side workaround now works in reverse: Kansans visiting KC’s Missouri side can bet on Missouri apps.
• Retail sportsbooks operate at Missouri’s licensed riverboat casinos.
• Full menus: pro and college sports, props, parlays, live betting. One carve-out: player props on athletes from Missouri colleges are prohibited (regulators rejected a broader ban), while team markets and props on out-of-state college games remain available.
• Not included: online casino games and poker remain illegal in Missouri.

What Missouri bettors should know

• Winnings are taxable. Gambling income is subject to federal and Missouri income tax; apps issue W-2G forms above federal reporting thresholds.
• Promos were huge at launch and are normalizing. The launch-market bonus wave (bet-and-gets, deposit matches) is the best it will ever be; expect offers to tighten as the market matures through 2026.
• Responsible gambling tools are built in: deposit limits, timeouts, and self-exclusion through the MGC framework. 1-800-GAMBLER applies statewide.

FAQ

Can I bet on the Chiefs, Cardinals, Royals, Blues, and Mizzou? Yes. In-state pro and college teams are all bettable under MGC rules. The one exception: player props on Missouri-college athletes (like individual Mizzou players) are off the board, though Mizzou team markets are fine.

I’m in Kansas City. Which state’s apps do I use? Whichever state you’re physically standing in. Both Kansas and Missouri are legal; apps detect your side of the line automatically, and most operators hold licenses in both states, so one account usually works across the metro.

Why did it take Missouri so long? Legislative gridlock. Sports betting kept getting tied to a fight over unregulated slot-style “gray machines.” The ballot route bypassed the legislature entirely.

Where does the tax money go? Amendment 2 earmarks state betting-tax revenue primarily for education funding, with a portion dedicated to problem-gambling programs.

Sources

• Missouri Gaming Commission: Sports Wagering Launch notice (Dec 2025)
• Ballotpedia: Missouri Amendment 2 (2024)
• Missouri Independent: margin narrows as counties tally official results (Nov 2024)
• Sports Handle: Missouri sportsbooks approved ahead of December 2025 launch
• Gaming Today: Missouri launch day report