A quartet of sportsbooks have applied to be among the first wave of operators to start taking bets in Missouri once the state opens its online sports betting market on Dec. 1.
Last month, a Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) spokesperson told SBC Americas that DraftKings and Underdog were the first two operators to apply for a license.
The MGC confirmed to SBC Americas this week that since its last update, DraftKings’ top-tier rival FanDuel has also applied, as has smaller sportsbook Circa Sports.
The commission and Circa both said that the company has applied for an untethered license, which allow operators to offer online and mobile sports wagering directly without a partnership with either a retail casino or a sports team. FanDuel and DraftKings have also applied for that category of license, of which only two are available.
The MGC received an application from Circa for the direct license on July 16, the day after the deadline for those two licenses. However, the application was postdated July 15.
FanDuel and DraftKings are ostensibly the heavy favorites to be awarded the pair of untethered licenses. The MGC must consider certain requirements such as the respective operators’ revenue-generating ability, in which terms those two behemoths blow Circa out of the water, as well as betting volume potential and advertising.
The remaining available licenses are tethered, meaning that licensees would need to partner with an in-state casino or pro sports team and likely enter a revenue-sharing agreement with them. Per the MGC, Underdog has applied for a “mobile license,” which the commission confirmed to SBC Americas means a tethered license. Underdog has not publicly disclosed who its partner would be.
To reflect the advantages that an untethered license would offer, they are twice as expensive as partnership licenses, at half a million dollars versus $250,000.
The MGC has committed to announcing the two selected direct license-holders on Aug. 15. In total, the commission is legally allowed to issue up to 14 online sports betting licenses. All tethered license hopefuls must apply by Sept. 12.
It’s meeting season
On Wednesday, the day after the deadline for untethered licenses and on the day of the deadline for public comments on the state’s published sports betting rules, the commission met briefly.
Steve Bittenbender reported that MGC Executive Director Mike Leara told commissioners in the July 16 meeting that it is still possible that the commission could receive more applications for an untethered sports betting license. However, they would need to be dated July 15 or earlier.
Bittenbender added that the MGC unanimously approved giving Leara the authority to issue temporary sports betting operator licenses as it works towards its Dec. 1 deadline for launch.
The MGC met again on Thursday morning, July 17, ostensibly to hear feedback on and discuss the submitted public comments. But, after going through the proposed rules one by one, nobody present at the meeting spoke up on any point.
Who else will join the fray?
While the market begins to take shape, several other operators who are not yet thought to have formally applied have paved the way to step into the state.
BetMGM has partnered with Century Casino & Hotel Cape Girardeau and Bet365 has teamed up with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“We are preparing,” a BetMGM spokesperson told SBC Americas in June. “Our plan is to satisfy all requirements to be ready to launch on Day 1.”
“We are excited to bring a world-class mobile sports betting experience to the Show-Me-State,” a Bet365 spokesperson said at the time of the Cardinals announcement.
Elsewhere, Caesars, Bally’s and ESPN Bet’s owner PENN Entertainment all have their own brick-and-mortar casinos in Missouri that provide easy and pseudo-direct market access.
GeoComply, Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) and Catalist have reportedly applied for supplier licenses.
