Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III on legalization of sports betting in Missouri

As Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III watched the live results on the Tuesday vote to legalize sports betting in Missouri, he felt like he was on the verge of watching his team blow a lead in the ninth inning.

Fortunately, Missouri voters turned out to be the equivalent of having Jason Isringhausen or Bruce Sutter on the mound.

“It felt like you’re trying to hang on to win in baseball and your closer is walking guys and they’re getting bloop hits and you’re like, ‘One more out,’” DeWitt told SBJ Wednesday. “And then the clock ran out.”

At 2:30 a.m. central time, legal sports betting passed in Missouri by a spread of just 5,000 votes with three million ballots cast.

“It’s an incredibly thin margin of victory,” DeWitt said. “It’s incredibly satisfying, and I would also call it somewhat of a relief.”

Missouri will have 14 online sportsbook skins — one for each of its six professional sports teams, one for each of its six casino owners, and two untethered licenses which will presumably go to DraftKings and FanDuel. There are also 19 retail sportsbook skins — one for each of 13 land-based casinos, and one for each of the six pro teams. DeWitt did not know whether all of them will activate.

DeWitt and the Cardinals were still evaluating how they want to proceed, with one sportsbook partner or multiple partners. “We know a dozen-plus operators will likely want to come into the market,” DeWitt said.

They could end up putting a retail sportsbook adjacent to Busch Stadium in their Ballpark Village. DeWitt said there is not a ready-made concept, so they would want to talk with their sportsbook partner and developer Cordish Companies on the best way to activate.

“We also want to be sensitive to families and fans who aren’t interest in this particular category, so maybe we pick a spot and focus our energy there on this category so you can do it if you want but it’s not everywhere that you turn if you don’t want to do it,” DeWitt said.

Sportsbook sources described DeWitt as “very influential” during the 2024 process.

In January, a coalition of the six Missouri pro sports teams led by the Cardinals, with significant contributions from DraftKings and FanDuel, launched their own initiative campaign, which culminated in a successful signature gathering effort and a narrow November win at the ballot box.

DraftKings and FanDuel ultimately gave a shade over $40 million to the campaign combined, which would seemingly give them the inside track on the two untethered licenses. The Cardinals, Royals, Blues, St. Louis City FC and the Current gave $333,333 each.

Previous legislative efforts, with DeWitt testifying at hearings on the issue, had advanced in the House before dying in the Senate. This time, they survived $14 million of spending in opposition.

“The filibuster rules in Missouri are notoriously favorable to those who want to block stuff, in the Senate in particular. We just kept falling victim to that process, and it was just so frustrating,” DeWitt said. “And so we finally said we’re going to take matters into our own hands.”