A website with teachers and team logos is live as the Missouri sports betting campaign enters its final seven weeks. On an opposition campaign website, two men in suits seem to be brokering a shady sports betting kickback in a darkened office.
As with all political propaganda, Missouri voters will have to filter through the spin before they arrive at the polls.
Sports betting could come to Missouri because the group Winning for Missouri Education successfully submitted about 340,000 petition signatures to get Amendment 2 on the ballot.
If the amendment receives majority support on Nov. 5, it will allow voters to bypass the Missouri Legislature while delivering Missouri sports betting to the state.
The petition drive received a certificate of sufficiency on Aug. 13, 2024. On Friday, Sept. 6, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green rejected efforts to overturn the Missouri Secretary of State’s decision to certify Amendment 2 as a ballot issue.
Polls Say ‘Yes’ Leads Missouri Sports Betting Campaign
Two separate independent polls suggest Amendment 2 has support from Missouri voters.
A just-released Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey of Missouri voters suggests:
- 52% of respondents plan to support the ballot measure.
- 25% plan to oppose legalized sports wagering for individuals over 21.
- About 23% are unsure.
Emerson College conducted the poll from Sept. 12 to 13. The margin of error is +/- 3.3%.
“Men support the sports gambling measure at a higher rate than women: 59% to 46%,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.
The August 2024 SLU/YouGov Poll also puts the Missouri sports betting amendment at the majority threshold.
Poll findings from the earlier poll suggest:
- 50% of respondents support Amendment 2.
- 30% said they do not plan to support the ballot issue.
- 21% are unsure.
At 58% “yes” to 38% “no,” men expressed stronger support for Amendment 2. Ten percent were not sure. Meanwhile, about 42% of women supported the amendment. Another 28% said no, and 30% were not sure.
The SLU/YouGov Poll took place between Aug. 8 and Aug. 16. It has a margin for error of +/- 3.79%.
Missouri Sports Betting Campaign Continues
Whether Missouri sports betting is a nirvana for education or a pathway to problems depends on which political website Missourians visit for information on Amendment 2.
The Yes Website
The “Yes on Amendment 2 For Missouri Education” site includes a cheerful teacher stock image, complete with textbooks, spiral notebooks, and an apple. She happily holds a piece of chalk with the phrase “Millions of dollars to strengthen education” written in the background.
The Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, St. Louis CITY SC, and the NWSL’s Kansas City Current allowed the use of their logos under an endorsement saying: “Join us in helping to guarantee tens of millions of dollars in dedicated funds for students and teachers.”
The “Yes” site includes an embedded YouTube video of self-described mom and former teacher Susan Wolk of Eureka, MO, who endorses the amendment. Below the video, amendment supporters argue:
- “Our teachers are some of the lowest paid in the nation. By legalizing sports betting, our state government can increase education funding by tens of millions of dollars annually, helping us recruit and retain educators by paying them a fair wage.”
- “Just half of Missouri students are proficient in math, and only a third can read at grade level. The significant, guaranteed increase in funding will help our students improve, succeed, and thrive.”
- “It is currently estimated that roughly $2 billion a year are placed in bets using offshore gaming websites, money that is currently not going back into our education system. By legalizing sports betting, we are ensuring tens of millions of dollars in education funding for our children and our schools, bringing that economic activity back to Missouri.”
The No Website
The “No Amendment 2” website describes the measure as a “deceptive online gambling amendment.” Its banner image includes two men in a dimly lit office dubiously shaking hands as US currency floats down around them. In another part of the blue-tinted banner, empty desks are positioned near a classroom window.
“Out-of-state online gambling corporations are asking Missouri voters to legalize online sports gambling,” the site says under the image. “These corporations are claiming that their measure is an education funding measure. In fact, because of special loopholes written into the measure, there’s no guarantee that a single penny would go to the state to fund schools.”
It continues:
“And, any money that could possibly be raised from sports gambling would give politicians a ‘blank check’ to spend the money however they want, with no accountability.”
It, too, has an embedded YouTube video. It starts with a distorted image of Wolk, the “yes” mom seen in the pro-amendment campaign video.
Bullet points under the video repeat the “No” site’s arguments:
- “Benefits out-of-state gambling corporations.”
- “No guarantee a single penny would fund education.”
- “Any money that could possibly be raised would give politicians a blank check with no accountability.”
- “Locks this deceptive measure’s massive expansion of gambling into our State Constitution.”
- “If sports wagering is going to be brought to Missouri, this is the wrong way to do it.”
Beyond the Campaign Messaging
The Beacon, a member of the non-profit KC Media Collective, broke down Amendment 2 and other ballot issues for Missouri voters. Its reporting calls the “no guarantee a single penny would fund education” claim into question.
“The state estimates sports betting could generate nearly $29 million a year for Missouri,” the Beacon’s Blaise Mesa wrote in his report. “Of that, $5 million would go into a fund to prevent gambling addictions. The remaining money — an estimated $24 million — would go to public schools and higher education. That revenue estimate is based on a 10% tax on adjusted gross revenue proposed in the amendment.”
Missouri and Maryland have nearly identical populations, so the Old Line State’s figures can provide a forecast for Missouri sports betting taxes:
- Maryland’s first retail sportsbooks launched in December 2021, and mobile sports wagering began 11 months later in November 2022. The state’s 15% sports betting tax goes to the “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund,” which supports public education programs.
- As of August 2024, Maryland surpassed the $100 million lifetime mark in sports betting taxes for public education.
- Missouri’s Amendment 2 calls for a 10% tax, however, so a theoretical “Winning For Missouri Education” fund would have collected about $668 million using Maryland’s timeline.
Missouri polling locations open at 6 a.m. CT and remain open until 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5. Anyone who arrives after their polling location has closed will not be allowed to vote. However, poll workers will accept voters who are already in line at the 7 p.m. deadline.
About the Author
