Missouri sports betting will officially begin as the clock strikes midnight to begin Monday, Dec. 1. The 39th state to offer some form of legalized sports wagering, Missouri’s market will be the first to open anew since North Carolina began taking bets in March 2024.
Missouri’s eight licensed sportsbooks have been able to welcome preregistrations since Nov. 17. To celebrate the first new sports betting state launch in close to two years, several of the licensed sportsbooks have events planned, with plenty of Missouri-linked former athletes on hand to help ring in the new market.
Here’s what we know so far about what various sportsbooks have planned for the first day of legal Missouri sports betting. One approved operator that will not be celebrating launch day is Underdog, which has pulled out of the market.
Caesars
An existing brick-and-mortar casino operator in Missouri, Caesars opposed legalizing sports betting in the state, but it will launch its Caesars Sportsbook mobile app at midnight and open in-person sportsbooks at both Harrah’s Kansas City and Horseshoe St. Louis on Monday morning.
The company told SBC Americas it has recruited Kansas City Chiefs legend Christian Okoye to place a ceremonial first bet at Harrah’s and former St. Louis Rams and Chiefs quarterback Trent Green to do the same at Horseshoe. Green will then travel to KC to place a bet at Harrah’s as part of a launch day road trip that will also see him stop by Caesars’ third brick-and-mortar venue in Missouri, the casino at Isle of Capri Boonville.
Caesars will also run a “Party Like a Caesar Super Bowl Promotion” that will give Missouri sports fans a chance to win a trip for two to Las Vegas for Super Bowl weekend by placing a bet of $5 or more.
DraftKings
DraftKings is also enlisting the help of former Kansas City and St. Louis athletes.
It will host an event on Dec. 1 at The Palladium in St. Louis, featuring Chiefs Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez, former Rams favorite Isaac Bruce and St. Louis Blues legend Brett Hull. The three former athletes will place ceremonial first bets from the icons, and Missouri House Speaker Jonathan Patterson will make remarks on site.
DraftKings announced last week an official sports betting and daily fantasy sports partnership with the Blues, where Hull is now an executive vice president.
The operator, one of two untethered direct licensee operators in Missouri’s market, will donate $50,000 to the Veterans Community Project to support the nonprofit’s Tiny Homes initiative, which provides transitional housing, comprehensive care and essential services to help veterans transition to independent living.
Fanatics
Like Caesars, Fanatics will hold in-person ribbon-cutting ceremonies on Dec. 1. Fanatics partnered with Boyd Gaming for its tethered license and will open brick-and-mortar sportsbooks at Boyd’s Ameristar Casinos locations in Kansas City and St. Charles at 4 p.m. CST on Monday, after it begins accepting online bets in the Show-Me State.
Retired Kansas City Royals legend Alex Gordon will host an opening ceremony at the KC location, while ex-Blues star Patrick Maroon will do the same in St. Charles. The two former athletes while each place a ceremonial first bet and host a football/hockey watch party Monday evening.
To welcome new Missouri customers, Fanatics is also offering a three-day FanCash Drop, a plinko-style game that awards Fanatics’ promotional FanCash to new customers for them to use during their first week on the platform.
FanDuel
FanDuel did not confirm plans for Dec. 1 in-person events but like DraftKings, is heralding its arrival with community donations. It provided $300,000 to Guns ‘N Hoses, a St. Louis-based nonprofit that provides financial assistance to the families of fallen and catastrophically injured first responders. FanDuel will announce further donations to other organizations on Dec. 1.
The operator will also run a Missouri Super Boost promotion on launch day, giving fans who place a wager $50 in bonuses when the first point is scored during the Monday Night Football game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots.
FanDuel Managing Director of Sportsbook Karol Corcoran called the operator’s Missouri launch “a huge moment for our business.”
Circa Sports
Circa Sports, the smaller low-hold-model sportsbook that beat out FanDuel for the other untethered license, will not host a ceremonial first-bet event.
But CEO Derek Stevens told SBC Americas that he and the Circa team will be on the ground all day long in Missouri, and will hold an event at the Blues game on Monday night. Circa will also have a lot of unique prop markets on their platform for that game, which is the first major sporting event in Missouri under the legal sports betting model. “We’ll be pretty busy for 24 hours,” laughed Stevens.
BetMGM and PENN to open retail sportsbooks
The other three licensed sportsbooks in Missouri are BetMGM, bet365 and theScore Bet, which is replacing ESPN Bet as PENN Entertainment’s U.S.-facing sportsbook brand.
BetMGM and its tether partner Century Casinos will open a BetMGM retail sportsbook at Century Casino & Hotel Cape Girardeau on Monday, while PENN will unveil theScore Bet-branded sportsbooks at its Hollywood Casino & Hotel St. Louis, River City Casino Hotel and Argosy Casino Hotel on Dec. 1.
