Missouri sports gamblers have crossed into Kansas for nearly 3 years to place legal sports betting bets. Three years from now, Kansas citizens may do the same.

Key takeaways

- Kansas lawmakers stopped brand-new sportsbook license extensions up until 2026, hinting at possible regulative changes that could affect its six legal operators after 2027.

- Missouri is set to release legal mobile sportsbooks in late 2025, potentially reversing cross-border betting patterns as Kansas bettors may head east.

- Future changes in Kansas could include a sole-operator design or tax walkings, impacting competition and encouraging wagerers to look for options in Missouri.

Kansas sports betting background

Kansas launched its first legal mobile sportsbooks in 2022. Six books now take bets: BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, ESPN BET, Fanatics and FanDuel.

The capability to place legal bets in Kansas brings in bettors on the Missouri side of the Kansas City city location to Kansas to wager, with some doing so most or nearly every day of the week.

That might change if Kansas lawmakers upend the present regulative structure. Sources tell Covers some legislators want to increase the state's sports wagering tax revenue, among the most affordable per capita of any of the 30 states with statewide legal mobile sportsbooks.

Kansas' likely reconsideration of its six-book legal sports betting wagering market next year will follow Missouri goes cope with as lots of as a lots books; if Kansas considerably curtails its offerings, it could lead KS wagerers to place bets in MO, the opposite of the current pattern

The alterations could be as simple as a tax increase. It might likewise result in a sole-source operator model some lawmakers are considering, one that could create more direct earnings for the state but possibly displace some or all of the 6 existing sportsbooks once their licenses end in Aug. 2027.

The legislation passed earlier this month just places a restriction until 2026, meaning Kansas' current sportsbooks can take bets until their licenses end the following year. Lawmakers may not even consider a dramatic modification to the regulative structure when they reconvene for the 2026 session, implying no perceptible impact for Sunflower State wagerers.

But the license extension restriction leaves the possibility for significant modifications that didn't seem possible weeks ago.

Missouri sportsbooks prepare to launch

The Kansas relocation comes as Missouri nears the launch of its legal sportsbooks.

Missouri's multi-year sports wagering legalization push ended in Nov. 2024, when citizens directly approved a ballot measure to bring legal retail and online sportsbooks to the state. The vote followed years of failed efforts to legislate sports betting in the legislature.

Missouri's legal sportsbooks are set to begin taking bets in the fourth quarter of 2025. There are likewise set to be nearly two times as lots of betting options in Missouri as Kansas.

FanDuel and DraftKings contributed more than $30 million to support the ballot procedure. The 2 U.S. market share leaders have, as expected, sports betting announced strategies to take bets in Missouri once licensed.

Other books including BetMGM, BetRivers and Underdog also revealed launch strategies. Bet365 struck a deal with MLB's St. Louis Cardinals and also plans to accept bets in the state.

Caesars, which opposed the ballot procedure over license allocation issues, runs three Missouri gambling establishments and is qualified to release its online book in the state. Penn Entertainment (ESPN BET) and Bally's (Bally Bet) likewise run Missouri casinos that grant them immediate market gain access to.

Other books consisting of Acid rock, live in Illinois, could also pursue among roughly two-dozen possible Missouri sports betting wagering licenses.

The wider variety of Show Me State wagering choices might bring in Kansas gamblers in the Kansas City metro location to Missouri to place bets, reversing years of wagerer traffic going the opposite instructions. This could accelerate if the Sunflower State cuts its sportsbook roster, specifically if DraftKings and/or FanDuel can no longer accept bets.

Missouri voters in the Kansas City city were the most ardent advocates of the sports betting tally procedure, which might highlight citizens' interest in positioning bets in their home state when books go live.

Missouri's sports wagering lineup doubts ahead of the 2025 launch. Kansas' sportsbooks could change too in the ensuing years.