SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - The NFL season is finally underway, and in Missouri, there’s more on the line this year than wins and losses; it’s the first full NFL season since voters legalized sports betting in the state.
The Missouri Gaming Commission set a goal to collect $25 million in the first full year of legal sports betting in the state; nine months into that first year, the group collected $11 million in taxes. The head of the commission isn’t worried about the $14 million gap; he says when it comes to sports wagering, the NFL is the big dog.
“It’s really the largest sport in the United States,” said Mike Leara, executive director for the Missouri Gaming Commission. “There are more people that follow and wager on NFL than any other sport.”
With three months to go in the first year of legal sports betting in Missouri, Leara says he’s confident the commission will reach its $25 million tax revenue goal.
“Over the next several months, three or four months, we expect the rest of that 14 million to probably come through,” said Leara. “Whatever revenues are generated, we’ll collect the tax on, but we’re still comfortable with the $25 million for the first year.”
Missouri imposes a 10% tax on sportsbooks’ income. Leara says that the state could be bringing in more revenue from the apps, but there are some ways to skirt around the regulations.
“You will see promotions, ‘Bet $5 and have $200 or $300 in your account to wager with.’ Those are all deductible when it comes to paying the tax on a monthly basis,” said Leara.
“You just see a lot more of it these days,” Jared Stevenson, the owner of Harbell’s Sports Bar in downtown Springfield, says sports gambling has shifted how fans watch the game. “It feels like anybody you ask who’s my age or even younger, instead of talking about, like, the specific players on each team, they know the exact line. They know the exact line for the game. They know the individual bets that are in the game now. I mean, it’s just, it’s really grown just in the last year.”
Stevenson says that those prop bets and parlays are actually helping his business by keeping patrons in their seats longer.
“More people are staying all the way through the game that have money on it because they want to see that actual ending,” said Stevenson. “Now that people have all these prop bets and everything else online, I’m seeing a lot more people not only show up before the game but stay all the way through.”
Leara said that the Missouri Gaming Commission brings in around $2 million a month in taxes on sports wagering.
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