Petitioners turning in signatures Thursday to get sports betting on the Missouri ballot – ABC17NEWS

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.