ST. LOUIS – On this Super Bowl Sunday, sports fans in Missouri are still wondering what’s going on with legalized sports betting, more than three months after voters approved it. 

Amendment 2, which narrowly passed in November, gives the Missouri Gaming Commission until December 2025 to have sports betting up and running. 

FOX 2 News has now confirmed it may happen by June. 

“We will be ready. It’s going to be a Herculean task,” VP and General Manager of Hollywood and River City Casinos Mike Jerlecki said.

Under Amendment 2, 13 Missouri casinos, six pro sports teams—including the Cardinals, Blues, City SC, and Kansas City Chiefs—plus two online or mobile-only gaming providers are eligible for the licenses.

The Gaming Commission must issue all of those licenses at one time to keep anyone from getting a head start on the competition. 

“We can’t let them trickle in a little bit at a time,” Missouri Gaming Commission Chairwoman Jan Zimmerman said. “Every license will have to be issued simultaneously, which we anticipate doing and going live by mid-to-late June.”

The Gaming Commission is now reviewing hundreds of pages of rules for making bets and paying out winnings, along with licensing down to every single worker involved in sports betting.

“On one day—mobile, kiosks, anything to do with over-the-counter—goes live on one day. So, it’ll be quite a day,” Jerlecki said. “Anyone that has anything to do with sports betting, whether it’s our IT staff or security staff, any of the individuals who take wagers, they have to go through a licensing process, any management as well,” Jerlecki said.

Zimmerman added, “We felt like having those rules in place for the application process was the most important to get going first. Those rules have been to the governor’s office. They have been returned to us for review and approval.”

Missouri voters barely approved Amendment 2 by about one-tenth of 1%, fewer than 3,000 votes out of nearly 3 million cast. No one contested the results.

The State of Missouri is charging five-year license fees of $250,000 for actual on-site retail sportsbooks and $500,000 for mobile app gaming, with a tax of 10% on providers’ profits, after significant write-offs for promotional campaigns to lure customers. 

Supporters predict at least $100 million from gaming tax revenues for Missouri schools in the first five years.

“In Connecticut in year one…they generated $40 million of revenue to the state, and oh, by the way, Missouri’s bigger than Connecticut by like two and a half million people, and we’re pretty good sports fans here,” Cardinals President Bill Dewitt III said back in the fall.

Dewitt III has been a leader in the effort to legalize sports gaming in Missouri. 

Missouri is losing out on gaming revenue to neighboring states. Seven of eight states that border Missouri already offer sports gaming. 

“We’re not the first to show up to dinner, but we’re not the last either,” sports fan Ted Gentile said. “It’s nice that we’re not going to have to drive over to Illinois. I like to parlay things. It’s one thing just to hit one game, but if you can string three or four together, you can really turn it into something special. I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited to see how they implement it here.”

Jerlecki added, “For our properties and our mobile application, ESPN Bet, it is a big deal. It will bring additional people into the casinos. Maybe we get increased table game business, increased slot business, and increased food and beverage revenue. That helps with job creation. That helps with paying taxes.”

Final licensing rules may be on the table at the Gaming Commission’s meeting later this month, with the application process opening in March.