Will Kansas City fans cross the state line to place bets? Missouri sports betting stalls
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Stalled negotiations among Missouri lawmakers make it increasingly likely that Kansas Citians will cross the state line to place bets on sporting events.
As Kansas appears poised to legalize sports wagering, Missouri’s inability to approve the measure has sparked frustration and criticism from area politicians.
If Missouri can’t pass the bill, it will “once again, lose revenue and people to Kansas. It gets old,” tweeted Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas.
Missouri’s bill, which would allow fans to place bets on major college and professional sports, stalled in the Senate this week. Lawmakers are at odds over whether controversial lottery machines, called video lottery terminals, should be included in the legislation.
The dispute comes as the unregulated gambling slots have popped up across rural Missouri over the last several years — at gas stations, truck stops and fraternal organizations. Attempts to regulate those gaming machines, which some prosecutors consider illegal, have complicated the state’s push to legalize sports betting.
After the U.S. Supreme Court gave the OK in 2018, nearly every surrounding state has passed some form of sports betting legislation. Some worry that Missouri is leaving millions of dollars of tax revenue on the table, particularly from fans who can bet online.
Efforts to pass sports betting bill fail
A debate on the Senate floor last week illustrated the competing interests at play that will likely cause the effort to fall apart in the last two weeks of session.
The companies that own the gaming machines have lobbied hard against any regulations. Others, including Republican Sen. Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg, have blamed casinos for not paying a higher tax rate.
Lawmakers in the Missouri Senate on Wednesday initially appeared willing to come to an agreement that increased the tax rate on sports betting to 10% and would add up to 5,000 regulated gambling machines statewide.
The legislation approved by the House last month was crafted by a group of Missouri professional sports teams and casinos, who would all get a share of revenues if the measure were to pass.
The House’s version would have imposed a tax rate of 8%, bringing in roughly $20 million in new revenue every year once the bill is fully implemented, according to legislative fiscal analysis.
But, in the Senate, the introduction of video lottery machines appeared to be the make or break moment for the bill as lawmakers from both sides seemed unwilling to negotiate.
Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, a Jefferson City Republican, on Wednesday filed an amendment to remove the language adding the gaming terminals, effectively outlawing the machines. He said he was against the machines, and gambling, entirely.
Bernskoetter’s amendment sparked an hours-long filibuster, largely by Hoskins, who warned that he had 153 amendments prepared. Including video gaming terminals in the legislation would bring $153 million more in tax revenue to public education and veterans programs, he said.
The three hours of debate that followed indicated the Senate would be unable to pass sports wagering without some kind of agreement over video gaming terminals.
In an interview with reporters on Thursday, Hoskins said Bernskoetter’s amendment was backed by casino companies who didn’t want to compete with the slot machines. He claimed that it “effectively killed the deal.”
“I was willing to compromise,” he said. “Unfortunately the casinos’ greed took over and they don’t want anyone to have a golden ticket besides themselves.”
Others blame Hoskins for his pushback on the amendment.
‘Mind-numbingly frustrating’
Last year, a similar bill sponsored by Hoskins that included both sports betting and the video lottery regulations also fell apart in the Senate.
Some lawmakers say that legalizing the machines — often referred to as “gray machines” because of their murky legal status — would be the only way to regulate and gain revenue from the ones seen popping up across the state. Others argue that the machines should be done away with entirely.
For lawmakers, that divide has muddled the legislation as sports betting proponents grow increasingly anxious.
“This is a mind-numbingly frustrating issue,” said Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden of Columbia.
Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo of Independence told reporters Thursday that sports betting is the No. 1 question he’s been asked about most by constituents. He said he did not believe the legislation would pass this year.
“I do believe that there needs to be some regulation in order,” he said of the gambling machines. “I can also see the perspective of the other side…I’m very torn.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 5:12 PM.
