Missouri teams to petition for legal sports betting ballot initiative

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Missouri's professional sports teams announced Friday that they have launched an initiative petition drive to put the legalization of sports betting on the November ballot.

The initiative is an attempt to sidestep the Missouri 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.

Vermont became the latest state to join the trend, launching mobile sports betting on Thursday.

LEGAL ONLINE SPORTS BETTING COMING TO VERMONT NEXT MONTH, GOV. SCOTT ANNOUNCES

Although sports betting has expanded rapidly, the odds for additional state legislatures to embrace it appear iffy in 2024 because of political resistance and the sometimes competing financial interests of existing gambling operators.

The Missouri sports teams said they began circulating petitions this week and will gather signatures this weekend at a St. Louis Cardinals offseason event and a St. Louis Blues home game.

Other teams in the coalition include the Kansas City Chiefs, the Kansas City Royals, and the Kansas City Current and St. Louis City soccer teams. Supporters have until May to submit the roughly 180,000 signatures of registered voters needed to qualify for the ballot.

"We are united in our goal of supporting the legalization of sports wagering in Missouri in a reasonable, safe and responsible way that is good for our teams, our fans, our Missouri teachers and our other citizens of Missouri," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a statement.

Fans enter Arrowhead Stadium, home