In the 2024 election, Missouri voters will decide whether to amend the Missouri Constitution to permit licensed sports betting.

Supporters of Amendment 2 state that tax revenues from sports betting will be used to fund and improve education in Missouri. However, some argue that the language is misleading and that educational institutions may not benefit from the amendment. 

If accepted, sports betting would be regulated by the Missouri Gaming Commission. People physically in the state who are 21 or older would be eligible to place bets. A 10% tax on revenues received from betting would be allocated to educational institutions in Missouri, the ballot language said.

Supporting Arguments

Winning for Missouri Education is the leading organization behind Amendment 2. The amendment has been endorsed by many Missouri professional sports teams, including the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Blues. The sports betting companies DraftKings and FanDuel have also supported the campaign. The largest funders of Winning for Missouri Education are the sports betting platforms BetFAIR Interactive US and DK Crown Holdings Inc.

Winning for Missouri Education’s campaign website argues that taxes on betting revenue will raise teacher pay and increase education funding by tens of millions of dollars. The website states that $2 billion a year in bets are placed on offshore gambling websites and that legalizing sports betting would bring tens of millions of dollars back to Missouri to fund education.

The campaign also cites a study by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming projects that the amendment could generate $134.4 million in tax revenue over five years, $105 million of which would benefit education. 

The amendment has strong bipartisan support, including Missouri governor candidates, Republican Mike Kehoe and Democrat Crystal Quade. Several state representatives and senators across the aisle support the amendment as well. 

Currently, sports betting is legal in 38 states and Washington D.C.

Opposing Arguments

Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment is the leading campaign opposed to the amendment. This campaign and others opposed to the amendment argue that it is misleading. Large funders of this campaign include Caesars Enterprise Services and several casinos within the state.

“Amendment 2 is a bad deal for Missouri. This deceptive measure was written by and for the financial benefit of its out-of-state corporate sponsors and funders,” Brooke Foster, a spokesperson for the campaign, said in a press release.

Opponents argue that the promises Winning for Missouri Education makes are untrue per estimates from state governmental entities that predict the amendment could raise $0 to $28.9 million in tax revenue annually, less than the possible $38.7 million predicted by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming. 

The campaign website also referenced data from February 2023, after the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl. During that time, more than $194 million was placed on sports bets in Kansas, where sports betting is legal. The state only received about $1,000 in tax revenue because of tax deductions. The campaign said that if Amendment 2 were to pass, the same could happen in Missouri.

The American Federation of Teachers Missouri is another organization against Amendment 2. 

“The proponents of Amendment 2 are running deceptive television ads, saying that teacher pay will go up if this measure passes,” said Ray Cummings, President of the American Federation of Teachers Saint Louis, in a press release.“But there isn’t even language in Amendment 2 that guarantees additional dollars will go to education. These folks are using students and teachers as a gimmick to pass online sports gambling while giving themselves huge tax deductions.”

Conclusion

A poll from Saint Louis University and market research company YouGov surveyed likely Missouri voters in August and found that 50% of likely voters support the amendment, 30% oppose it and 21% are undecided. With the election only a few days away, both campaigns will continue to argue their position in hopes of swaying undecided voters. 

Amendment 2 is just one of the many issues facing voters this election cycle. Learn more about how to vote in the 2024 election from The Maneater’s Election Guide.

Edited by Maya Dawson | mdawson@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Amelia Schaefer and Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com  

 Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com