Missouri Sportsbook Options Set to Grow With Pending PENN Casino Openings
PENN Entertainment is set to open retail sportsbooks at both its Missouri homes, per recent business job posts. This is also a precursor, presumably, of the company's plans to release its mobile ESPN BET sportsbook statewide.
- PENN Entertainment is working with for retail sportsbook managers at its two Missouri gambling establishments, indicating strategies to offer both in-person and mobile betting through ESPN BET.
- FanDuel and DraftKings lead the race for Missouri's 2 untethered mobile licenses, while other significant operators like bet365, BetMGM, and Underdog seek gain access to through partnerships.
- Despite legal arrangements for widespread in-person wagering, only a couple of retail sportsbooks-including those at PENN casinos-are validated ahead of the Dec. 1 launch.
PENN is working with sportsbook supervisors at its 2 Show-Me State Casinos, Hollywood Casino St. Louis and River City Casino, both in the St. Louis city area. The job postings are the clearest indicator yet PENN means to provide retail books at its two handled properties in the state.
The company confirmed that its Argosy Riverside residential or commercial property in will also have a book.
Missouri's 2024 constitutional change that legislated sports betting lets state gambling establishments also partner with mobile sportsbooks. PENN appears poised to work together with one of 2 residential or commercial properties for market gain access to for ESPN BET, the online sports betting platform it operates utilizing the eponymous brand.
Missouri's first online and retail books are set to begin taking wagers Dec. 1. It will be the 39th U.S. state to accept legal sports bets.
ESPN BET could sign up with roughly a dozen mobile sportsbooks in Missouri.
FanDuel and DraftKings, the two U.S. sports betting leaders by market share, as well as Circa already obtained among the state's 2 "untethered" mobile licenses. These licenses don't require a third-party sportsbook operator to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or professional sports group and are granted independently of the "tethered" licenses.
FanDuel and DraftKings, which combined have more than 7 million monthly active users nationwide, are the heavy favorites to win the two untethered licenses. The Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) is required to weigh possible consumer acquisition, earnings generation and marketing invest to name a few essential requirements for licensing, which would provide a substantial edge over Circa, which focuses on a small subset of passionate gamblers.
The MGC is arranged to reveal the two winners Aug. 15.
The sportsbook that doesn't make the untethered license can still partner with among the state's gambling establishments or sports groups. The application due date is September, with a formal announcement of all licensees gotten out of the MGC at some point before the Dec. 1 launch date.
PENN is hiring Sportsbook Managers at its River City and Hollywood Casinos near St Louis, per current task posts, a clear sign it will open ESPN BET retail books at each property; company also has direct market access to introduce ESPN BET mobile book in Missouri as early as Dec. 1
bet365 announced a market gain access to contract with MLB's St. Louis Cardinals previously this year. BetMGM struck a comparable offer with Century Casinos, which runs two Show-Me State gaming homes. MGM, which co-owns and operates BetMGM along with European video gaming company Entain, doesn't handle a Missouri casino.
Since July, Underdog is the only other company that obtained a license or revealed a partnership.
In addition to PENN, Bally's and Boyd Gaming also manage both Missouri casinos and internal mobile sportsbook brand names. This indicates Bally's and Boyd's respective eponymous online books are eligible for licenses, though it's unclear if either will go live. Bally Bet has less than 1% market share in its existing markets and Boyd Sportsbook is only readily available in Nevada.
Caesars runs three casinos in Missouri but funded a project to stop the 2024 ballot procedure that legalized sports wagering over concerns the enacting legislation put the business at a competitive downside. Caesars hasn't explained its sports wagering strategies in the state.
Fanatics, BetRivers and Hard Rock are among the leading U.S. sportsbooks that do not share a company that runs a Missouri casino but could nevertheless pursue a license.
In-person sportsbook potential
Missouri law permits more combined retail casino and in-stadium sportsbooks than any other state. It stays to be seen the number of will really take bets.
Four months before these books can accept wagers, the two PENN properties in the company's job posts and a book next to the Cardinals' Busch Stadium are the just revealed in-person betting choices. Century Casinos in its news release revealing the BetMGM market gain access to offer stated the arrangement consisted of the ability to open in-person books at its Missouri casinos, not that it planned to do so.
The state's other casino operators have not announced retail plans. None of the 5 other Missouri pro sports groups (MLB's Kansas City Royals, the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, the NHL's St. Louis Blues, MLS' St. Louis City SC and the NWSL's Kansas City Current) revealed retail (or online) sportsbook partners.
Several retail books at the handful of stadiums in other states that permit in-person betting closed, as have books at casinos. Online betting now makes up more than 90% of bets positioned, a figure that continues to grow each year as digital user interfaces, wagering options and payouts become progressively convenient through mobile apps.