JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s professional sports teams on Thursday turned in more than 340,000 voter signatures to put a ballot proposal to legalize sports betting before voters this November.

The campaign had help from Cardinals’ mascot Fredbird, Royals’ Sluggerrr and St. Louis Blues’ mascot Louie. The oversized bird, lion and blue bear waved enthusiastically as they hauled boxes filled with voter signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office in Jefferson City.

Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft now must validate the voter signatures before the proposal officially makes it on the ballot. The campaign needs roughly 180,000 signatures to qualify.

A total of 38 states and the District of Columbia now allow some form sports betting, including 30 states and the nation’s capital that allow online wagering.

The Missouri initiative is an attempt to sidestep the Senate, where bills to allow sports betting have repeatedly stalled. Missouri is one of just 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.

Teams in the coalition include the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, Kansas City Chiefs, the Kansas City Royals, and the Kansas City Current and St. Louis City soccer teams.

The proposed constitutional amendment would allow each of Missouri’s 13 casinos and six professional sports teams to offer onsite and mobile sports betting. Teams would control onsite betting and advertising within 400 yards of their stadiums and arenas. The initiative also would allow two mobile sports betting operators to be licensed directly by the Missouri Gaming Commission.

Under the initiative, at least $5 million annually in licensing fees and taxes would go toward problem gambling programs, with remaining tax revenues going toward elementary, secondary and higher education. If approved by voters, state regulators would have to launch sports betting no later than Dec. 1, 2025.

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri petitioners will be turning in signatures to the Secretary of State’s office Thursday afternoon in an effort to get sports betting on the November ballot.

The petitions have been led by Missouri’s six professional sports franchises. Team representatives will be at the Secretary of State’s office today to speak, along with representatives from Winning for Missouri Education.

Winning for Missouri Education is backing the initiative petition drive to legalize sports betting in the state to help fund public education.

Data from GeoComply shows the desire for sports betting is strong and growing in Missouri. During Super Bowl weekend, more than 431,000 bets were blocked in Missouri from people trying to access sportsbooks in other states.

The location detection software said this is a 51% increase from the 2023 Super Bowl.

Of those blocked bets, 48% were attempting to access Kansas sportsbooks and 37% were attempting to do the same in Illinois.

After petitions to legalize sports betting in Missouri are turned in Thursday, the Secretary of State’s office will have to certify the signatures. The petition needs signatures from 5% of legal voters in six-of-eight voting districts to get on a statewide ballot.

Once on the ballot, questions need a simple majority to pass.

The Missouri Legislature has tried for years to pass a sports betting bill. Although it has previously passed the Missouri House of Representatives, the Senate has not come to an agreement.

If passed by voters, the petitions would make it legal for Missourians to place bets on professional and college teams through casinos or platforms like Draft Kings and FanDuel. Fans could also place prop bets.

Initiative petition signatures are due to the Secretary of State’s office on Sunday. Other petitioners are also turning in signatures to get their questions on the November ballot.

This comes as lawmakers are trying to pass initiative petition reform, which would make it harder for voters to get their questions on the ballot.

Check back for updates.

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