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Efforts to quickly launch sports betting in Missouri have been delayed for several months by a familiar opponent.
Secretary of State Denny Hoskins last week rejected the Missouri Gaming Commission's (MGC) bid to adopt regulations on an emergency basis, saying the proposed rules do not actually constitute an emergency as defined under state law.
Hoskins, in his previous role as a state senator, filibustered proposed legislation that aimed only to legalize sports wagering without including video lottery terminals (VLTs).
The MGC had sent the draft rules to Republican Governor Mike Kehoe last month and planned to have the first wagers being placed as soon as June.
“While the Missouri Gaming Commission initially cited a December 1, 2025, deadline as the reason for emergency rulemaking, the reality is that the rules do not meet the criteria for emergency action,” Hoskins wrote in an opinion piece obtained by Vixio GamblingCompliance.
“As such, the state must move forward with the regular rulemaking process, including a public comment period, review by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), and filing permanent rules,” Hoskins wrote. “This process ensures the people of Missouri are appropriately informed and have a say in the final decisions.”
Under state law, an emergency rule is only warranted if there is “an immediate danger to the public health, safety or welfare that requires emergency action, or the rule is necessary to preserve a compelling governmental interest that requires an early effective date”.
“In the absence of emergency rules, our timeline is being pushed back months,” the MGC said in a statement. “The commission will proceed with our proposed licensing rules that were filed at the same time and will become effective August 30.”
In the meantime, the MGC said, staff will continue working “to ensure we meet the constitutionally required start date of sports wagering not later than Dec. 1”.
The commission’s non-emergency rules were filed alongside the emergency rules in January, with an effective date of August 30. The proposed rules will be published in the Missouri Register on March 17, and the public comment period will run until at least April 17, allowing state residents and industry groups to submit their comments and concerns.
After the comment period closes, the MGC will be required to file responses with the JCAR, ensuring that the public’s input is considered before the rules move forward.
“First and foremost, we must question the notion that these rules constitute an emergency, due to the high threshold defined in [state law],” Hoskins wrote. “The standard rulemaking process is more than capable of achieving the desired outcome within the necessary timeframe.”
“In fact, under the proper procedure, the proposed rules could be effective by Sep. 30 … well ahead of the Dec. 1 deadline," he added. "This confirms that there is no legitimate justification for bypassing the standard rulemaking process, which is designed to give the public the chance to weigh in on decisions that affect them.”
Hoskins said he believed that Missouri residents deserve to be part of the rulemaking process, and that several people had already reached out to his office with concerns and requesting an opportunity for public input.
“They are right to demand transparency, especially considering the striking discrepancies between the projected sportsbook revenue and what is actually forecasted in the state’s fiscal budget,” Hoskins wrote.
“While some pro-sportsbook advertisements promise up to $50m annually for education, the fiscal note in [pending budget legislation] House Bill 2 projects less than $1.1m in sportsbook tax revenue for FY 2026, assuming a summer start date,” he added. “This gap raises critical questions about the actual economic impact of sportsbooks and whether the state’s residents are being provided with accurate information.”
Hoskins served in the Missouri Senate from 2017 until 2024, and during previous legislative sessions introduced a series of bills that would have only legalized online sports betting if legalizing VLTs was included.
His willingness to filibuster any standalone bills that authorized only sports betting eventually led to frustration within the industry and ultimately to leading sportsbook operators and Missouri professional sports teams to successfully pursue a ballot initiative that bypassed the state legislature.
Winning for Missouri Education, which was almost entirely funded by DraftKings and FanDuel, collected more than 183,000 valid signatures to put Amendment 2 on the November 5 ballot. The initiative was also supported by Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals and five other professional sports franchises in the state.
Missouri voters narrowly approved Amendment 2 when some 50.2 percent of the state's roughly 2.8m voters cast their ballot to adopt the proposal, barely meeting the required majority to enact the amendment by about 14,000 votes.
