Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment Launches Anti-Sports Betting Campaign

A new group, Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment, launched a campaign Tuesday to oppose Amendment 2 — the proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize sports betting in Missouri.

Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment group is aiming to convince voters to reject sports betting

Amendment 2 will be voted on by Missourians this November. The mission of Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment is to convince Missouri voters to reject sports betting in the Show-Me State.

Campaign spokeswoman Brooke Foster said the initiative, which is funded largely by DraftKings and FanDuel, is a “bad deal for Missouri.”

DraftKings and FanDuel remain interested in further expansion. The campaign has raised more than $6.5 million and recently won a spot on the Nov. 5 ballot.

“This deceptive measure was written by and for the financial benefit of its out-of-state corporate sponsors and funders,” Foster said.

“We are building a broad coalition and are prepared to wage a vigorous campaign to educate voters across the state and ensure the measure is defeated.”

Amendment 2 would set the sports betting tax rate at 10%

The measure would set the sports betting tax rate at 10% and allow Missouri’s professional sports franchises along with the state’s 13 casinos to operate retail and online sports betting. Two online betting platforms would be eligible to receive a license.

Additionally, the petition received support from all four of Missouri’s professional sports franchises: Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Blues, and St. Louis Cardinals.

All four sports teams partnered with multiple sports betting operators to fund Winning for Missouri Education. The coalition promoted the petition and collected more than 340,000 signatures.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft certified the petition last month for the ballot measure.

Local polling has shown enough support for sports betting legislation

Following certification of the petition, Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III said in a statement:

“Missouri is now just one step away from joining most other states in legalizing sports betting. [We will] be able to provide millions of dollars to Missouri classrooms. A vote for Amendment 2 in November is the right thing to do for Missouri public schools and sports teams.”

Local polling has shown adequate support for sports betting to pass the ballot initiative. A poll published by The Kansas City Star earlier this year found that 60 percent of respondents approved sports betting legislation, 25 percent opposed, and 14 were undecided.

However, a St. Louis University/YouGov poll of 900 voters in August found that 50 percent support legalized sports betting. Of course, that’s compared to just 30 percent in opposition.

If passed by voters, the initiative would align Missouri with 38 other states and Washington D.C. Missouri voters will also decide in November whether to overturn the state’s ban on abortion and raise minimum wage.