DraftKings Gives Another $5 Million To Winning for Missouri Education

One of our best sports betting sites has made another generous donation to the campaign to bring legal sports betting to Missouri.

The Missouri Ethics Commission website shows that DraftKings contributed a further $5 million to the Winning for Missouri Education campaign earlier this week, bringing its total contributions above $10 million. Together with FanDuel, the sportsbook operators have donated $14 million to support the initiative.

Winning For Missouri Education

Missouri sports betting has struggled in the legislature over the past five years. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) on May 14, 2018, allowed individual states to regulate sports betting, but Missouri has yet to do so. As of September 2024, 38 states and territories have some form of legal sports betting.

In January, several professional sports teams from across the state teamed up to form the Winning for Missouri Education coalition. The group includes the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Current, St. Louis Blues, St. Louis City SC, and St. Louis Cardinals. It argues that legal sports betting could generate millions each year for public education. Should the initiative pass, the state is expected to impose a 10% tax on sports betting revenue.

“The St Louis Cardinals are proud to support this initiative, which will boost Missouri’s professional sports teams, our fans and Missouri classrooms,” said the team’s president, Bill DeWitt III, to a local news source.

The group gathered signatures earlier this year to legalize sports betting on the November ballot. Missouri law requires at least 8% of voters in the last election to sign a petition for a ballot measure to qualify, translating to approximately 180,000 signatures. In May, the group submitted over 340,000 signatures.

“As one of only 12 states without legalized sports betting, Missouri took a significant step forward today in ensuring that these revenues stay in Missouri to help our communities and classrooms,” said Jack Cardetti, spokesman for Winning for Missouri Education, back in May.

The opposition

However, not everyone supports the measure. Earlier in the summer, political consultants filed a lawsuit seeking to remove the amendment from the ballot, claiming it lacked sufficient valid signatures. Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel R. Green dismissed the lawsuit, stating that there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that signatures were invalid. As a result, the initiative remains on the November ballot. It will be a yes or no vote, requiring more than 50% approval to pass. 

A newly formed group, Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment (MADOGA), has emerged as an opponent, receiving its first donation from Caesars Entertainment, the parent company of Caesars Sportsbook.

“We are building a broad coalition and are prepared to wage a vigorous campaign to educate voters across the state and ensure the measure is defeated,” said MADOGA spokeswoman Brooke Foster, who believes the initiative is a “bad deal for Missouri.”