Missouri Sports Betting Tops $543 Million In Handle During 1st Month
Missouri's legal sportsbooks took in simply over $543 million in wagers during the state's first month of legal betting, state regulators revealed Friday.
However, that half-billion in manage for the Show-Me State's recently introduced bookmakers only equated into $521,200 in tax cash for Missouri in December, the figures show.
While there was $104 million in gross income, high levels of promotional deductions by customer-seeking sportsbook operators tamped down the overall haul. Several major sportsbooks used new and returning consumers what were basically can't-lose promos, such as would the Kansas City Chiefs and their challenger integrate to score a minimum of one point in an upcoming game.
- Missouri sportsbooks released Dec. 1, 2025, drawing countless login efforts and positioning the state for roughly $4 billion in yearly wagering manage.
- Eight online sportsbooks released and eight retail books opened last month, with FanDuel and DraftKings expected to manage about 75% of the market.
Online sportsbook operators reported adjusted revenue loss of $21.6 million for the month, which significantly surpassed the $887,331.73 in earnings reported by brick-and-mortar sportsbooks.
The negative income reported by operators DraftKings and FanDuel, the state's highest-grossing books, implied they owed no tax in December, in spite of accounting for more than $400 million of all betting in the state.
FanDuel topped DraftKings with $212 million in December manage compared to $195 million. FanDuel generated simply under $46 million in profits, before promos, compared to $31.6 million for DraftKings.
Combined, the two books accounted for more than 75% of all Missouri sports betting manage in its first month, in line with its averages in other states. FanDuel and DraftKings are the 2 highest-grossing books in each of the roughly two-dozen U.S. jurisdictions in which they both run.
Bet365 ranked 3rd in both handle and gross revenue. BetMGM was 4th in deal with, though 6th in revenue. Fanatics was fifth in handle and 4th in profits, simply ahead of Caesars which ended up sixth in handle and fifth in revenue. TheScore Bet was seventh in both classifications, followed by Circa, which was 8th.
Football was the most wagered-upon sport, with simply under $150 million in bets, followed by basketball with just over $98 million. Parlays combining two or more bets were the most bet-upon category, creating roughly $213 million in manage.
There were more than 2.6 million legal sportsbook login efforts on the Dec. 1 launch day, according to geolocation tracking firm GeoComply. Those came from more than 250,000 active sports wagering accounts.
GeoComply taped more than 18.5 million login attempts in Missouri's very first week of legal betting originating from more than 520,000 separate accounts.
Missouri is anticipated to produce around $4 billion in manage in its very first full year of legal sports betting, per a Covers analysis. Based off the market's forecasted 10% typical hold, that would result in $400 million in operator earnings.
December 2025, similar to many other state launches, is anticipated to generate disproportionately greater income as sportsbooks market heavily and provide new sign-up deals and other bonus offers for new users.
NFL regular season months consisting of September, October, November, and December are expected to be amongst the state's highest-grossing months.
Missouri revenue report's long road
The first Missouri sports wagering earnings report release comes more than a year after state voters authorized legal sportsbooks.
Voters directly approved legal sports betting via a constitutional amendment on the November 2024 ballot. A series of regulatory hold-ups pressed the launch back to Dec. 1, 2025, the most current date permitted by the ballot step.
The nearly 13-month timeline in between approval and very first bet was amongst the longest of any of the 39 states to authorize legal sportsbooks.
Nine online sportsbooks made licenses. That included DraftKings and Circa, which protected the state's two "untethered" licenses that allowed it to enter the state without needing to partner with a Missouri third-party brick-and-mortar gambling establishment or professional sports team.
BetMGM, bet365, Caesars, FanDuel, Fanatics, and theScore Bet also started accepting bets in Missouri Dec. 1. Underdog, the ninth book to make a license, pulled its application and shuttered its North Carolina sportsbook to focus on its forecast market and everyday fantasy sports select 'em offerings.
FanDuel and DraftKings are anticipated to be the two highest-grossing sportsbooks in the state, as they remain in the roughly two-dozen states in which they both operate. In license statement before the Gaming Commission, the two books told regulators they anticipated to produce a combined 75% or more of the overall Missouri sports betting manage at market maturity.
Eight Missouri casinos opened retail sportsbooks Dec. 1. These are expected to create 5% of the state's total wagering handle.
The Missouri tally procedure permitted any of the state's 6 professional sports groups to partner with a third-party operator to open a retail book within or surrounding to their respective home stadiums. None have revealed strategies to do so.
Chiefs moving impacts
One of those six groups might soon lose its sports betting choices.
The Kansas City Chiefs are expected to leave Missouri for a brand-new arena in Kansas by 2031. Missouri legislators have presented legislation that would remove the Chiefs of the rights to open a retail book at their present home location, Arrowhead Stadium, or to partner with a third-party mobile operator (which it hasn't done so).
GeoComply taped more than 10,000 accounts throughout the Chiefs Dec. 8 game versus the Houston Texans, the very first NFL game played in Missouri after the legal sports betting launch. It remains to be seen how a pending re-location might impact Missouri or Kansas' sports betting deal with.
The Chiefs missing the playoffs in 2025, the franchise's very first time disappointing the considering that 2014, could have a more considerable influence on Missouri sportsbooks' bottom lines. Home teams tend to draw significant handle around playoff games, with each round generating more wagering activity.