Missouri citizens have no legal sportsbooks available to put bets as the 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament ideas off this week. That will change for the 2026 competition.

Though Missouri citizens approved legal books on the 2024 tally, wagerers can't position their first bets till fall 2025. In the meantime, Show Me State clients wanting to wager with a legal sportsbook will need to wager in a nearby state.

Why Missouri will not have legal sportsbooks this March

After years trying to legalize sports wagering through Missouri's statehouse, advocates consisting of the state's major expert sports teams and leading national sportsbooks, promoted betting approval via a 2024 ballot step. After enduring a late legal difficulty and eight-figure opposition campaign, the measure gone by a few thousand votes out of almost 3 million tallies cast.

Regulators entrusted with carrying out legal sports wagering wished for books to go live by summertime 2025. Missouri's Secretary of State delayed that when he rejected a petition to speed up the regulatory procedure.

Even in a best-case scenario, it was unlikely Missouri would have books certified before March Madness began.

The regulative procedure consists of promoting crucial guidelines such as financial disclosures, licensure credentials, background checks, event wagering eligibility and a host of other choices. Each book also requires to be tested individually.

In the majority of the 30 other states with legal online sports betting, the time from legal betting approval to very first wager has been around six-to-nine months.

A targeted summer season approval would have been among the United States' quicker turnarounds. The existing timeline tasks the very first books to start in October or November of this year ahead of a legally mandated Dec. 1 go-live date.

Missouri betting choices for the 2025 competition

Missouri wagerers happy to cross state lines to wager with a legal sportsbook have numerous choices.

Missouri's 2 largest metro locations, St. Louis and Kansas City, border Illinois and Kansas, respectively. Both states have several legal sports wagering alternatives and are a comparatively easy drive (and even stroll) from the particular Missouri cities' downtown cores.

Iowa, Kentucky and Tennessee do not share major population centers but offer a lot of the very same significant online sportsbook brands. Arkansas allows statewide mobile wagering but only with 3 regional brand names related to the state's casinos. Nebraska only permits in-person wagering while Oklahoma has no legal sportsbook wagering options.

Missourians looking to bank on the 2025 March Madness may also position contracts with exchange betting platforms such as Kalshi and .

Future Missouri sports wagering

By 2026, Missouri is set to have approximately a dozen major sportsbooks, many or all expected to be live ahead of that year's Super Bowl and NCAA Tournament.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which combined contributed more than $30 million to the Missouri sports betting tally step, both announced public objectives to release in the state. BetMGM, the country's No. 3 operator by handle behind the duo, also prepares to go reside in the state.

Caesars, which funded the opposition project over concerns about licensing access structure, would also be placed to go live. Other live books in neighboring states consisting of BetRivers, ESPN BET, bet365, Fanatics and Acid rock could also be among the brand-new operators.

Once live, Missouri sportsbooks will let in-state wagerers put wagers on Show Me State athletic programs consisting of the University of Missouri. This contrasts with Illinois, which forbids bettors physically located within its borders to bank on in-state college groups.