ST. LOUIS – The head of the Missouri Gaming Commission now says legalized sports gaming will launch on Dec. 1, 2025, more than a year after voters approved Amendment 2, legalizing sports gaming in the state.

However, you don’t have to wait that long to win money on sports in Missouri.

For instance, in a recent game against the Detroit Tigers, you could have put $10 on Brendan Donovan to get a hit, Willson Contreras to hit a home run, and the Tigers’ Javi Baez to get an RBI. If all three things happened, you’d win more than $250 on that parlay.

It’s perfectly legal in Missouri and has been for years.

Fantasy sports betting has been legal in Missouri for nearly a decade. A company called Underdog is now making a big fantasy sports push in St. Louis, getting fans to download the app open accounts before home games for the pro sports teams along with big events like Mardi Gras.

“Missouri to us is just a really important state,” said Underdog’s Sam Berman, who worked the tailgating crowd before a recent Battlehawks football game. “It’s one of those few states where fantasy sports is legal and sports betting quite isn’t. We want to plant our flag here.”

“We’re the fastest-growing sports gaming company in the U.S.,” Joshua Anderson, Underdog’s director of strategy, said. “We really have a very simple objective. We want to make sports more fun.”

The company is advertising its fantasy sports products during games, both in stadiums and on television.

Though you put money down and can win money back, fantasy sports wagers are not considered sports gaming under a 2016 law called the Missouri Fantasy Sports Consumer Protection Act. What most would consider to be bets the law calls “entry fees.” What most would consider gambling, the law calls a contest of skill.

“So, when you see Fantasy Sports providers like Underdog…that’s fantasy sports [under Missouri law],” Jan Zimmerman, chairman of the Missouri Gaming Commission, said. “That’s been in in place in Missouri for a number of years. I understand the confusion of the public when they see those ads and they don’t see the difference… [but] you are wagering on fantasy sports players and not a sports wager like what will go into effect by the end of this year. So, it’s different.”

Underdog and fellow fantasy sports game providers like FanDuel and DraftKings follow the Missouri Fantasy Sports Consumer Protection Act to the letter of the law.

“It’s a game based on skill,” Anderson said. “It’s based on accumulated stats of the player, not the game outcome. Third, it’s a prediction on multiple players from different teams.”

You cannot bet on an individual player, game outcome, or point spreads. Sports fans like fantasy wagers for the same reasons they like full-fledged sports betting.

“The camaraderie, even just sitting in a sports bar among random strangers,” Battlehawks fan Avery Hopp said. “’Oh, you need so-and-so to get 10 more yards? cool, so do I. Rock on’!”

Battlehawks fan Jason Harris says it’s akin to fantasy football.

“It’s kind of brought a lot of people to the game of football,” he said. “My girlfriend now can be interested because she can follow one particular player while the game’s going on.”

Underdog is now offering to match up to $1,000 deposited into a customer’s fantasy sports account.

They’re among the companies applying for a full-scale sports gaming license under Missouri’s Amendment 2, which will allow betting on individual players, game outcomes and point spreads by December.