JOPLIN, MO. — Ever since sports betting launched in Kansas in 2022, numerous Missouri residents have made the trip across the border to legally access sports betting platforms such as FanDuel and DraftKings, but a change is near.
Legal sports betting officially launches in the Show-Me State on Monday, December 1 meaning that all Missouri residents will have the option to place bets from the comfort of their own home.
While it’s been just over a year since the sports betting amendment passed with a 50.05% vote to bring the once taboo activity to Missouri, some Joplin citizens have been placing bets for years being located just minutes from the Kansas border.
“I’ve been coming here [the Missouri-Kansas border] for a long time, either down here or down over in C.J. by the border over there,” Joplin resident Logan Quarles said.
From a Joplin resident’s perspective, there is a bit of irony in play considering parts of city limits extend out to the Kansas border.
“I live five minutes down the road,” Quarles said. “The border is right here. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able just to be in my room, in my bed, just placing bets. Instead, I have to come all the way down here to do it. Not that far to drive, but it is kind of an inconvenience.”
As for the state of Missouri itself, the legalization of sports betting is expected to benefit the average resident.
“It’s difficult to argue that it produces a lot of money to help the state do things for our citizens,” District 161 Missouri State Representative Lane Roberts said.
For the last three-plus years, surrounding states, such as Kansas, have benefited fiscally with Missouri residents making the trip across state lines to engage in betting activity.
“That’s part of what drove the effort to have gaming introduced in Missouri in the first place,” Roberts said. “We knew that people were doing that. And worse yet, there are a number of people in the state who are using offshore betting. That revenue was going to other places and that part was a little bit distasteful.”
Starting December 1, 2025, the tax revenue generated from sports betting will go toward education as well as problem gambling resources.
For bettors like Quarles, however, it means no more trips across state lines.
“I’ll be able to place it at my house, place it at my parents house, do this you know what I mean,” Quarles said. “Place it wherever I want. I don’t have to, like, set a time aside to go place my bet. I can just place it wherever I’m at.”
