MEMPHIS, USA— Over the last few years, sports betting has been a hot-button issue across the country, and candidates who support it tend to win.
On Friday, a Missouri judge said that a ballot measure for sports betting would stay on the state’s ballots for November.
Residents of Missouri are sure that the measure will pass, which would make legal sports betting possible in the state. This is because many of the state’s major sports teams are in favor of it.
“Right now, a lot of people have to cross the bridge [from Missouri to Illinois] and go to the Casino Queen or Alton to place their bets,” Antwon Curtis, a St. Louis Cardinals fan from Missouri who went to the game on Friday, said.
A number of nearby states, like Illinois, Arkansas, and Kansas, already allow people to bet on sports. If Missouri doesn’t legalize sports betting, it could lose money from people who cross state lines to bet.
A sports betting analyst for Covers.com named Geoff Zochodne said, “The fact that the parties were able to get it on the ballot at all suggests that there is a fair bet of interest.”
Legalizing and regulating sports betting will help the state police responsible gambling rules. This is good for both lawmakers who want to bring in more money and sports bettors who want to find new ways to bet.
At Friday’s Cardinals game, Debbie Berrong, also from Missouri, said, “I probably want to do some research, look into it like everyone else should, look into the rules and the expectations.” It’s clear that I would look into [sports betting].
Under the suggested plan, licensing fees and taxes would bring in at least $5 million a year for problem gambling programs. The rest of the tax money would go to funding education at the elementary, secondary, and higher levels.
According to a new poll by Saint Louis University and YouGov PLC, about half of those who answered would back a law that would allow sports betting, thirty percent would be against it, and twenty percent would not know either way.