New year brings new sports betting measures in California and Missouri

California and Missouri have both tabled initiatives to bring legalized sports betting to the respective states in attempts to catch up with a majority of the US.

In California, the sleeping giant among US states, the Attorney General’s office published two separate measures aimed at legalizing sports betting. 

The first, Initiative 23-0035, ‘The Common Sense Initiative to Protect California Kids Online,’ is a tribal-centered initiative – which notably lacks the support of the state’s tribes – that would allow for table games and retail wagering at tribal casinos, with 25% of sports betting profits going to non-participating tribes. An additional 1% would go back to the state in return for regulatory oversight.

Language in the second measure, Initiative 23-0031, is significantly shorter on details but would pave the way for online betting to be offered on tribal lands as part of a constitutional amendment. 

It is widely believed that both initiatives are doomed to fail due to the lack of tribal support. 

Missouri, meanwhile, is trying to get over the hump after proving unable to legalize sports betting in each of the past two years, with two different lawmakers having already submitted bills in 2024.

Senator Tony Leutkemeyer, who spearheaded an unsuccessful effort to get a sports betting bill through his chamber in 2023, has filed SB 852, which would bring online wagering to the Show-Me State. 

The state’s riverboat casinos and professional sports teams would serve as the primary license holders under Leutkemeyer’s bill. The riverboats would be permitted to partner with up to three online operators while the sports teams would be afforded one online skin apiece. 

Licenses would cost $100,000 and would need to be renewed every four years. Gross operator revenue would be taxed at 12% – in line with established markets such as New Jersey and Colorado – and promotional deductions would begin at 100% in year one before the phasing in of annual 25% decreases.

The second bill, SB 824, brought by Senator Denny Hoskins, contains similar sports betting language despite its primary thrust being the legalization of video lottery terminals (VLTs), a sticking point for Hoskins in previous legislative sessions where sports betting was on the table.

The sports betting framework has a lot in common with Leutkemeyer’s bill – a lower 10% tax rate is one of its small differences – albeit with the significant caveat that VLTs represent the big-ticket item.