Missouri Sports Betting, Ozarks Casino Referendums Bring Record Spending

As the 2024 election approaches, Missouri voters are inundated with advertisements for gaming campaigns. 

In addition to selecting the next president, on November 5, Missourians will be asked whether they are in favor of allowing retail and online sportsbooks. They will also be asked about extending casino gambling from the Missouri and Mississippi rivers to the Osage area. 

Both gaming referendums are initiated by citizens. The ballot measures aimed at changing the Missouri Constitution need only a simple majority to be approved. The sports wagering campaign has driven unprecedented expenditures for a Missouri ballot measure. 

As per campaign finance data, Amendment 2 has generated $46 million in political donations. The former record for referendum spending in the Show-Me State was in 2006, when $31 million was collected to support a measure that safeguarded stem cell research. 

Sportsbook Expenditure, Caesars Dilemma 

The sports betting advocacy group has been funded by leading sportsbooks DraftKings and FanDuel. The two sportsbook companies donated approximately $32 million to Winning for Missouri Education, the political organization behind the sports betting advertisements that promote the educational advantages of permitting casinos and professional sports venues to conduct retail and mobile sports betting activities. 

Caesars Entertainment is financing the campaign against it. 

Caesars, one of the six commercial casino operators in the state, thinks Amendment 2 would permit an excessive number of sportsbook licenses. The operator of Harrah’s North Kansas City, Horseshoe St. Louis, and Isle of Capri Boonville thinks that the existing casinos ought to get a larger share of the sports betting market. 

Caesars has invested $14 million in efforts to oppose Amendment 2. This raises the total lobbying regarding the sports betting issue to $46 million. Caesars has approximately 2,000 employees in Missouri. 

Bally’s, along with its Missouri-based development partner for the proposed resort at the Lake of the Ozarks, has invested $9.4 million in efforts to persuade voters to support Amendment 5. Bally’s and the real estate firm RIS Inc. have shared the $9.4 million expenses for the campaign. 

Should Amendment 5 be approved, Bally’s and RIS would be permitted to seek a casino license for a resort close to the Hollywood-like Lake of the Ozarks sign at the intersection of Highway 54 and Route 242. 

Bally’s and RIS are likewise introducing educational benefits in their effort to gain public backing. Amendment 5 mandates that all state funds generated from the Ozarks casino be allocated to early childhood literacy initiatives in public elementary schools. 

There is no structured resistance to Amendment 5. Bally’s claims its lobbying expenditures aim to clarify the referendum for voters and emphasize the advantages of early childhood education that the resort would provide. 

2024 Vote 

The likelihood is high that Missouri will vote Republican for the seventh straight US presidential election. A Democratic presidential contender has not secured Missouri since 1996, when the state voted for Bill Clinton. 

At Polymarket, an online betting platform offering wagers on the presidential election, bettors assign Donald Trump a 99% likelihood of securing Missouri and its 10 electoral votes. Although Missouri is a Midwestern state, it exhibits a strong Southern cultural influence and is predominantly situated within the conservative Bible Belt.