Missouri Sports Betting Tops $543 Million In Handle During 1st Month
Missouri's legal sportsbooks took in just over $543 million in wagers throughout the state's very first month of legal wagering, state regulators announced Friday.
However, that half-billion in manage for the Show-Me State's just recently introduced bookies only translated into $521,200 in tax money for Missouri in December, the figures show.
While there was $104 million in gross income, high levels of marketing reductions by customer-seeking sportsbook operators tamped down the general haul. Several significant sportsbooks offered brand-new and returning clients what were essentially can't-lose promotions, such as would the Kansas City Chiefs and their challenger integrate to score a minimum of one point in an upcoming game.
- Missouri sportsbooks introduced Dec. 1, 2025, drawing millions of login attempts and positioning the state for approximately $4 billion in yearly wagering handle.
- Eight online sportsbooks launched and eight retail books opened last month, with FanDuel and DraftKings expected to manage about 75% of the market.
Online sportsbook operators reported adjusted earnings loss of $21.6 million for the month, which vastly outweighed the $887,331.73 in income reported by brick-and-mortar sportsbooks.
The unfavorable revenue reported by operators DraftKings and FanDuel, the state's highest-grossing books, indicated they owed no tax in December, regardless of accounting for more than $400 countless all wagering in the state.
FanDuel topped DraftKings with $212 million in December manage compared to $195 million. FanDuel created just under $46 million in revenue, before promos, compared to $31.6 million for DraftKings.
Combined, the 2 books represented more than 75% of all Missouri sports wagering handle in its very first month, in line with its averages in other states. FanDuel and DraftKings are the 2 highest-grossing books in each of the approximately two-dozen U.S. jurisdictions in which they both run.
Bet365 ranked third in both deal with and gross revenue. BetMGM was fourth in manage, though sixth in earnings. Fanatics was 5th in manage and fourth in revenue, just ahead of Caesars which finished sixth in handle and fifth in income. TheScore Bet was seventh in both categories, followed by Circa, which was 8th.
Football was the most wagered-upon sport, with just 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, producing approximately $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 betting accounts.
more than 18.5 million login attempts in Missouri's first week of legal wagering coming from more than 520,000 separate accounts.
Missouri is anticipated to create around $4 billion in deal with in its first complete year of legal sports wagering, per a Covers analysis. Based off the industry's predicted 10% typical hold, that would cause $400 million in operator earnings.
December 2025, similar to most other state launches, is expected to create disproportionately higher profits as sportsbooks market greatly and use new sign-up offers and other perks for brand-new users.
NFL regular season months including September, October, November, and December are anticipated to be amongst the state's highest-grossing months.
Missouri earnings report's long road
The very first Missouri sports wagering income report release comes more than a year after state voters approved legal sportsbooks.
Voters narrowly authorized legal sports betting through a constitutional amendment on the November 2024 tally. A series of regulative delays pressed the launch back to Dec. 1, 2025, the latest date permitted by the tally step.
The nearly 13-month timeline in between approval and very first bet was among 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 2 "untethered" licenses that allowed it to go into the state without needing to partner with a Missouri third-party brick-and-mortar casino or professional sports team.
BetMGM, bet365, Caesars, FanDuel, Fanatics, and theScore Bet also began 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 prediction market and everyday fantasy sports select 'em offerings.
FanDuel and DraftKings are expected to be the 2 highest-grossing sportsbooks in the state, as they remain in the roughly two-dozen states in which they both run. In license testimony before the Gaming Commission, the two books informed regulators they anticipated to generate a combined 75% or more of the total Missouri sports wagering handle at market maturity.
Eight Missouri casinos opened retail sportsbooks Dec. 1. These are expected to create 5% of the state's overall wagering manage.
The Missouri ballot step permitted any of the state's 6 professional sports groups to partner with a third-party operator to open a retail book within or nearby to their respective home arenas. None have announced strategies to do so.
Chiefs relocation effects
One of those 6 teams might quickly lose its sports betting options.
The Kansas City Chiefs are expected to leave Missouri for a new stadium in Kansas by 2031. Missouri lawmakers have presented legislation that would strip the Chiefs of the rights to open a retail book at their existing home location, Arrowhead Stadium, or to partner with a third-party mobile operator (which it hasn't done so).
GeoComply recorded more than 10,000 accounts during the Chiefs Dec. 8 game versus the Houston Texans, the first NFL game played in Missouri after the legal sports betting launch. It stays to be seen how a pending re-location could affect Missouri or Kansas' sports betting handle.
The Chiefs missing out on the playoffs in 2025, the franchise's first time falling short of the postseason since 2014, might have a more substantial impact on Missouri sportsbooks' bottom lines. Home teams tend to draw significant handle around playoff video games, with each round producing more wagering activity.