Winning for Missouri Education Launches Website
Missouri residents will have an opportunity to vote on legal sports betting in November. If the vote passes, they'll have access to a selection of our best sports betting sites.
While not everyone is happy about the upcoming vote, one powerfully backed group encourages residents to vote in favor of legal sports betting.
The group Winning for Missouri Education is firmly on board and has begun its ad campaign ahead of the election.
The group is backed by several of the region's professional sports teams, including the St. Louis Blues, Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis CITY SC, and the Kansas City Current.
Recent developments
It's been a news-filled few weeks for legal Missouri sports betting proponents.
In mid-August, the Missouri Secretary of State, John R. Ashcroft, announced that enough signatures had been collected to have the question of a legal sports betting platform on the November election ballot.
Opponents acted quickly, with two residents launching a lawsuit against the initiative. They argued that the signatures were invalid and sought to remove hundreds of approved ones.
Campaigns for and against
Once it was confirmed that the ballot question would go ahead, both sides jumped into lobbying mode.
Winning for Missouri Education launched its first ad in favor of the "yes" vote just days later.
That came hot on the heels of Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment launching a campaign opposing the plan to legalize sports betting.
That group aims to convince voters to reject Amendment 2.
The chances
Recent polls indicate a reasonable chance for Missouri's constitutional amendment on sports betting to pass.
A March poll showed 60% in favor of legalization and 25% opposed.
In June, an Emerson College poll revealed a tighter race, with 38% of voters supporting legal sports betting and 35% against.
As Missourians prepare to vote on the plan to legalize sports betting, one thing is clear: it will be a close decision.
However, driven by support from the state's sports teams and hopeful sportsbooks advocating for Winning for Missouri Education, the odds favor the initiative passing,.