Missouri sports betting bettors have crossed into Kansas for nearly 3 years to place legal sports bets. Three years from now, Kansas residents may do the very same.
Key takeaways
- Kansas lawmakers stopped new sportsbook license extensions up until 2026, hinting at possible regulative modifications that could affect its six legal operators after 2027.
- Missouri is set to introduce legal mobile sportsbooks in late 2025, sports betting possibly reversing cross-border wagering trends as Kansas gamblers might head east.
- Future modifications in Kansas might consist of a sole-operator sports betting design or tax walkings, impacting competition and encouraging gamblers to look for alternatives in Missouri.
Kansas sports betting 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 put legal bets in Kansas attracts wagerers on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro area to Kansas to bet, with some doing so most or nearly every day of the week.
That could alter if Kansas legislators upend the existing regulatory structure. Sources inform Covers some lawmakers want to increase the state's sports wagering tax revenue, amongst the most affordable 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 come after Missouri goes cope with as numerous as a dozen books; if Kansas considerably curtails its offerings, it might lead KS gamblers to put bets in MO, the opposite of the current pattern
The alterations could be as easy as a tax boost. It could also lead to a sole-source operator model some legislators are thinking about, one that might create more direct earnings for the state but potentially dislodge some or all of the six existing sportsbooks when their licenses expire in Aug. 2027.
The legislation passed previously this month just positions a prohibition until 2026, implying Kansas' existing sportsbooks can take bets up until their licenses expire the list below year. Lawmakers may not even think about a significant modification to the regulative structure when they reconvene for the 2026 session, indicating no perceptible impact for Sunflower State bettors.
But the license extension prohibition leaves the possibility for significant changes that didn't seem feasible weeks earlier.
Missouri sportsbooks prepare to introduce
The Kansas relocation comes as Missouri nears the launch of its legal sportsbooks.
Missouri's multi-year sports betting wagering legalization push ended in Nov. 2024, when citizens directly authorized a tally measure 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 start taking bets in the fourth quarter of 2025. There are likewise set to be nearly two times as numerous wagering choices in Missouri as Kansas.
FanDuel and DraftKings contributed more than $30 million to support the ballot step. The 2 U.S. market share leaders have, as anticipated, revealed strategies to take bets in Missouri once accredited.
Other books including BetMGM, BetRivers and Underdog likewise 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 procedure over license allowance issues, operates 3 Missouri casinos and is qualified to release its online book in the state. Penn Entertainment (ESPN BET) and Bally's (Bally Bet) also run Missouri gambling establishments that give them instant market gain access to.
Other books including Acid rock, live in Illinois, could likewise pursue one of approximately two-dozen possible Missouri sports wagering licenses.
The wider range of Show Me State wagering options might draw in Kansas bettors in the Kansas City city location to Missouri to position bets, reversing years of gambler traffic going the opposite direction. This might accelerate if the Sunflower State curtails its sportsbook roster, specifically if DraftKings and/or FanDuel can no longer accept bets.
Missouri citizens in the Kansas City city were the most ardent fans of the sports wagering ballot procedure, which could underscore residents' interest in placing bets in their home state as soon as books go live.
Missouri's sports betting lineup is unpredictable ahead of the 2025 launch. Kansas' sportsbooks could change too in the occurring years.
