Missouri Sports Betting Update: Senate Obstacles Remain

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00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 - All right, Pat, let's move on over to Missouri

00:08 and break down the very latest going on there.

00:10 We know that there's a lot of obstacles,

00:12 very specifically a couple or one very specific obstacle

00:17 to getting sports betting in the state.

00:18 What's the latest with the hearing that they had today?

00:21 - Yeah, so there was a hearing yesterday.

00:24 I think that was a misspeak there on your part, Greg.

00:29 But yeah, but yeah, it was, honestly,

00:34 it's the same thing we've seen the last two years.

00:36 Rep Dan Howkes introduced his bill in a committee.

00:42 It's passed out of the house two years now

00:46 and will very much likely pass out this year.

00:51 And he even said it, he said, "We're here again.

00:53 I'm not gonna go into details.

00:55 This feels like Groundhog Day."

00:56 And then a stream of sports team executives,

01:01 sports book executives, players associations

01:05 all came up and basically just said,

01:06 "Yep, we're here, we're supporting this.

01:08 Let's get this done this year."

01:10 Bill DeWitt III,

01:11 the president of the St. Louis Cardinals.

01:14 He's the leader of the sports team coalition.

01:16 He got up and spoke.

01:19 And there is a ballot initiative circulating right now

01:22 to get sports betting on the ballot in November

01:26 if this legislative session fails yet again.

01:30 He said, "If this passes, we'll pull that.

01:32 We don't need it.

01:33 If this happens, this is our preferred route."

01:36 Of course, like I said,

01:37 it's gotten through the house two years in a row.

01:39 Again, very likely will this year.

01:42 But the problem is a single Senator,

01:43 Denny Hoskins in the Senate,

01:46 he has filibustered it to death the past two years

01:49 and has signaled he will do the same again this year.

01:54 And it doesn't seem like there's any change in his stance.

01:57 He really wants to also legalize video lottery terminals,

02:00 which are basically slot machines

02:02 and gas stations and convenience stores.

02:04 And that's a non-starter

02:09 for most other lawmakers in the Senate.

02:11 So that's been a problem.

02:13 Interestingly, last night,

02:15 Senate President Caleb Rowden tweeted out

02:17 a very interesting kind of statement

02:23 that he is taking a stance.

02:24 He's a Republican, as is Denny Hoskins,

02:26 and his small cohort that Rowden called the Chaos Caucus.

02:31 And he also called them swamp creatures

02:35 for how much it has stymied the progress in the Senate.

02:38 He's removed, I think it's about five lawmakers,

02:41 including Hoskins, from committees.

02:43 So there's kind of a little slap on the wrist there

02:45 for kind of this obstructionist politics

02:49 that's happening in Missouri.

02:51 Does that change anything?

02:52 I've got several sources saying no,

02:54 'cause the rules on the Senate floor have not changed.

02:57 So does this give the Senate any more promise

03:00 for sports betting?

03:01 Unlikely, but it's still an interesting

03:03 kind of turn of events to keep an eye on.

03:06 (upbeat music)

03:09 (upbeat music)

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