Missouri Sports Betting Tops $543 Million In Handle Throughout 1st Month
Missouri's legal sportsbooks took in just over $543 million in wagers throughout the state's first month of legal wagering, state regulators revealed Friday.
However, that half-billion in manage for the Show-Me State's recently released bookmakers just translated into $521,200 in tax money for Missouri in December, the figures reveal.
While there was $104 million in gross profits, high levels of advertising reductions by customer-seeking sportsbook operators tamped down the total haul. Several major sportsbooks offered brand-new and returning customers what were basically can't-lose promos, such as would the Kansas City Chiefs and their challenger integrate to score at least one point in an upcoming video game.
- Missouri sportsbooks introduced Dec. 1, 2025, drawing millions of login attempts and positioning the state for roughly $4 billion in annual wagering handle.
- Eight online sportsbooks introduced and eight retail books opened last month, with FanDuel and DraftKings anticipated to control about 75% of the market.
Online sportsbook operators reported adjusted earnings loss of $21.6 million for the month, which greatly surpassed the $887,331.73 in profits reported by brick-and-mortar sportsbooks.
The negative profits reported by operators DraftKings and FanDuel, the state's books, meant they owed no tax in December, in spite of accounting for more than $400 million of all wagering in the state.
FanDuel topped DraftKings with $212 million in December handle compared to $195 million. FanDuel created simply under $46 million in profits, before promos, compared to $31.6 million for DraftKings.
Combined, the 2 books represented more than 75% of all Missouri sports wagering manage in its first month, in line with its averages in other states. FanDuel and DraftKings are the two highest-grossing books in each of the approximately two-dozen U.S. jurisdictions in which they both operate.
Bet365 ranked third in both deal with and gross profits. BetMGM was fourth in deal with, though 6th in earnings. Fanatics was 5th in handle and fourth in earnings, just ahead of Caesars which completed sixth in manage and 5th in profits. TheScore Bet was seventh in both categories, followed by Circa, which was eighth.
Football was the most wagered-upon sport, with simply under $150 million in bets, followed by basketball with just over $98 million. Parlays integrating 2 or more bets were the most bet-upon classification, producing approximately $213 million in manage.
There were more than 2.6 million legal sportsbook login efforts on the Dec. 1 launch day, according to geolocation tracking firm GeoComply. Those originated from more than 250,000 active sports wagering accounts.
GeoComply recorded more than 18.5 million login attempts in Missouri's first week of legal betting coming from more than 520,000 separate accounts.
Missouri is anticipated to produce around $4 billion in manage in its first full year of legal sports wagering, per a Covers analysis. Based off the market's projected 10% typical hold, that would cause $400 million in operator revenue.
December 2025, as with many other state launches, is expected to generate disproportionately higher income as sportsbooks advertise greatly and provide new sign-up offers and other rewards for brand-new users.
NFL regular season months including September, October, November, and December are anticipated to be amongst the state's highest-grossing months.
Missouri earnings report's long roadway
The very first Missouri sports betting profits report release comes more than a year after state voters approved legal sportsbooks.
Voters narrowly authorized legal sports betting through a constitutional change on the November 2024 ballot. A series of regulatory hold-ups pushed the launch back to Dec. 1, 2025, the current date permitted by the tally step.
The nearly 13-month timeline between approval and first bet was amongst the longest of any of the 39 states to approve legal sportsbooks.
Nine online sportsbooks earned licenses. That included DraftKings and Circa, which secured the state's 2 "untethered" licenses that permitted it to get in the state without needing to partner with a Missouri third-party brick-and-mortar gambling establishment or expert sports group.
BetMGM, bet365, Caesars, FanDuel, Fanatics, and theScore Bet likewise started accepting bets in Missouri Dec. 1. Underdog, the ninth book to make a license, pulled its application and shuttered its North Carolina sportsbook to focus on its prediction market and day-to-day fantasy sports select 'em offerings.
FanDuel and DraftKings are anticipated to be the two highest-grossing sportsbooks in the state, as they are in the roughly two-dozen states in which they both operate. In license testament before the Gaming Commission, the two books informed regulators they anticipated to generate a combined 75% or more of the total Missouri sports betting deal with at market maturity.
Eight Missouri casinos opened retail sportsbooks Dec. 1. These are anticipated to create 5% of the state's overall wagering handle.
The Missouri tally measure permitted any of the state's 6 expert sports teams to partner with a third-party operator to open a retail book within or surrounding to their respective home stadiums. None have announced plans to do so.
Chiefs moving effects
Among those six groups might soon lose its sports betting alternatives.
The Kansas City Chiefs are expected to leave Missouri for a brand-new stadium in Kansas by 2031. Missouri legislators have presented legislation that would remove the Chiefs of the rights to open a retail book at their existing home place, Arrowhead Stadium, or to partner with a third-party mobile operator (which it hasn't done so).
GeoComply tape-recorded more than 10,000 accounts during the Chiefs Dec. 8 game versus the Houston Texans, the very first NFL video game played in Missouri after the legal sports betting launch. It remains to be seen how a pending re-location might affect Missouri or Kansas' sports wagering manage.
The Chiefs missing the playoffs in 2025, the franchise's very first time disappointing the postseason since 2014, might have a more substantial effect on Missouri sportsbooks' bottom lines. Home groups tend to draw substantial manage around championship game, with each round generating more wagering activity.