Sports betting in Missouri
Sept. 20 Kansas City Star
Direct democracy is, amazingly, still alive and well in Missouri. The initiative and referendum process has in recent years brought forth the expansion of Medicaid and the legalization of marijuana, and done so despite the objections and inaction of our leaders in Jefferson City. When the usual processes of state government get gummed up, organized citizens can still take matters into their own hands to improve their lives and the laws of the state.
We believe in the citizen-driven referendum process. But we’re a bit more cautious with our enthusiasm when billion-dollar enterprises get involved.
That’s what happened last week when the Missouri Pro Sports Coalition — a group led by the St. Louis Cardinals, and which includes the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Current — filed four petition proposals with the Missouri secretary of state, each of which would let the teams and casinos offer sports wagers in their venues and online: Fans could go to a game and place a bet while cheering for the home team. The goal is to gather 180,000 signatures to get a measure onto the 2024 ballot.
Sports betting would “provide our fans a good, new exciting way to enjoy sports and root for our teams,” said Cardinals executive Mark Whittle, speaking on behalf of the coalition.
Maybe. We still have concerns about the sudden, dramatic expansion of sports betting nationally in recent years. You can’t watch a game or highlights these days, it seems, without being offered an invitation to drop some cash on a wager using a phone or laptop. Some observers worry the ubiquity of sports betting will lead to a surge in gambling addictions, with predictably bad results for families, workplaces and society.
It is probably too late to stop the spread, however. Nearly 40 states have legalized sports wagers, including next-door Kansas. We cannot blame Missouri sports teams for wanting to tap into a revenue source available to most of their competitors. It would be best, however, if legalization and regulation was led by the Missouri General Assembly — the better to balance the interests of the state, its residents and the teams — rather than the teams that stand to benefit.
Unfortunately, Missouri leaders have fallen down on the job.
In February, the state Senate was on the verge of passing a bill to legalize sports betting that seemingly had solid support. But the process was derailed by a single person — Sen. Denny Hoskins, a Warrensburg Republican — who blocked progress on the effort because it didn’t also legalize and tax video lottery terminals, the casino-like slot machines increasingly found in Missouri gas stations, truck stops and fraternal organizations. His colleagues wouldn’t go along.
That’s why sports teams decided to bypass legislators. “We’re not optimistic that kind of dynamic within the Missouri Senate will change,” Whittle told the Associated Press.
Understandable. The team-led process, though, would create a sports-betting regime much more favorable to gambling interests. The abandoned Senate bill would have placed a 15% tax on the adjusted gross receipts — the money left over after payouts to bettors. Under the teams’ proposal, the state would get a 10% cut. That would still produce an estimated $30 million in yearly revenue for Missouri coffers, but state’s inaction means it may have left some money on the table.
We love our local sports teams. But the referendum they propose isn’t so much an effort to make life better for Missouri residents as it is an attempt to improve their own, already substantial bottom lines. (The Chiefs are valued at $4.3 billion by Forbes, while the Royals are worth an estimated $1.2 billion.) Again: There’s nothing particularly wrong with that. It does mean, however, that Missourians should cast a vigilant eye on their attempts to bypass the state legislature.
Ultimately, it would be best if the legalization of sports betting were guided by elected state representatives. When officials in Jefferson City don’t do their jobs, though, somebody else will.