Kansas City Chiefs, other Missouri pro teams push sports betting petition

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Missouri’s six pro sports teams are taking steps to help legalize sports betting in the state.

According to the The Winning for Missouri Education campaign, the Kansas City Chiefs, Royals, Current, St. Louis Blues, Cardinals, and St. Louis City SC are working to collect signatures. If enough people sign the petitions, it asks for the issue to be added to the November ballot.

Several possible initiative petitions were filed with the Missouri Secretary of State last year. The version being circulated to Missourians to sign can be found online through the Secretary of State’s office.

Winning for Missouri Education said the petition would establish a plan to allow regulated sports betting in the state. It also calls for a 10% sports wagering tax that will fund education in the state.

Missouri is one of a dozen states where sports wagering remains illegal more than five years after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for states to adopt it.

Data suggests Missourians are interested in sports betting. From mid-June to mid-December, the technology firm GeoComply Solutions processed over 13.5 million location checks from 280,000 devices located in Missouri attempting to access mobile sports betting sites. About 48% were trying to use sportsbooks in Kansas, and 40% in Illinois. They were blocked from doing so, according to the Associated Press.

Efforts to legalize sports betting in Missouri have stalled in the state Senate in the past.