A lawsuit filed by two Missouri residents trying to prevent the sports betting referendum from appearing on November’s ballot was denied by a judge, which means the voters will have their say.
Challenge Denied
Missouri residents Blake Lawrence and Jacqueline Wood filed a lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court which alleged that the Secretary of State’s office was derelict in counting the 170,000 signatures required to get the sports betting question on the ballot in November.
The basis of the legal challenge contended that the count should have been predicated on the 2022 legal boundaries and not the 2020 boundaries. The suit argued that the proper number of votes based on the newest boundaries (2022) did not meet the minimum requirement in four of the eight counties.
Shortly thereafter, St. Louis Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III, said in a statement, “This effort to decertify our ballot inactive is completely without merit, as Missourians came out in force to sign the petition that will be on the ballot in November.”
Game On, Missouri
We recently discovered that the judge hearing the case agreed with DeWitt and has tossed the lawsuit, paving the way for voters to decide for themselves whether mobile sports betting will be permitted in the Show Me State.
Jack Cardetti, the spokesperson for Winning for Missouri Education, the political action committee formed by the state’s six professional sports franchises to bring mobile betting to the Missouri masses, released a statement that read, “Today’s ruling, while expected, is nevertheless a big victory for Missourians, who overwhelmingly want to join the 38 other states that allow sports betting so that we can provide tens of millions of permanent, dedicated funding each year to our public schools.
“For too many years, Missourians have watched as fans cross state lines to place sports bets, which deprives our Missouri public schools of much-needed funding. A vote for Amendment 2 in November will bring those dollars back to Missouri classrooms.”
On to November
The state’s professional sports franchises including the Cardinals, Royals, Chiefs, Blues, Current, and City FC are firmly behind bringing mobile sports betting to Missouri because they will all financially benefit in the form of partnerships with the state’s sports betting operators. It is for this reason that they formed the PAC, Winning for Missouri Education, which has already received $10 million in donations from industry heavyweights, FanDuel and DraftKings, to do all the leg work by gathering signatures.
Now that it is clear the question will be on the ballot in November, Missouri voters can expect an advertising blitz attempting to convince Missouri voters that voting yes on sports betting will keep its residents from crossing its borders and betting in neighboring states, thereby keeping the money in the Show Me State.
The other facet of the advertising will focus on where those funds will be directed. The answer to that question is in the name of the PAC, Winning for Missouri Education. Expect the marketing barrage to be laser-focused on getting the word out that sports betting revenues will go a long way toward bolstering the state’s educational system.
A simple majority of Missouri voters is required to approve sports betting.
