Missouri: St. Louis Cardinals' president expresses "frustration" over long odds of sports betting legalization

With Missouri lawmakers again appearing unlikely to approve legislation legalizing sports betting this session, Bill DeWitt III, President of MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals, lamented the situation and expressed “extreme frustration.”

“I would describe it as an extremely high level of frustration with not being able to bring this to a vote,” he told The Missouri Times. “We have an issue that is extremely popular with our fans, popular with the politicians, and it’s blocked because others wanna hitch a ride on our wagon, and they have enough clout to bully their way onto the bill.”

The Cardinals and other Missouri pro sports teams have lobbied for years to get the practice legalized. However, their efforts will seemingly come up short once again, as both lawmakers and stakeholders said in recent weeks they aren’t hopeful legislation will pass this year. The Missouri General Assembly wraps up its annual session on May 12.

Despite lamenting the legislative inaction, DeWitt said there might still be time left to get a bill to the finish line. “We’ve got three weeks to go, so we'll keep trying,” he stated, as reported by St. Louis Business Journal. “Sometimes the political winds can change as you get closer to the end when horse trading occurs, but something kind of needs to happen here because right now we're kind of stuck.”

Similar to last year, a sports wagering bill passed the House during the current session, but the Senate has so far been unable to advance legislation on the topic. The Senate debated a sports betting proposal earlier this month, but did not vote on it. And with the Missouri General Assembly’s session nearing its end, high-ranking lawmakers in recent weeks have said it is highly unlikely sports betting will be legalized this year.

One hurdle that has stalled past attempts to legalize sports betting is a push to have regulation of video lottery terminals also included in legislation. While this session the two proposals weren’t lumped together, Missouri lawmakers are still divided between those who want sports wagering, those who believe gambling shouldn’t be expanded without also legalizing video lottery machines, and those who think both proposals are a bad idea.

Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, told the Missouri Independent the chances legislation gets approved are “not good,” dealing a further blow to gaming interests and pro sports teams in their push for legal sports betting. The Cardinals, along with MLB’s Kansas City Royals, the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, MLS’ St. Louis City SC, the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, and the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League are all lobbying lawmakers on the topic as part of a coalition.

“The definite sentiment on my end is extreme frustration that we can't get this done,” said DeWitt, as per St. Louis Business Journal. The Cardinals’ President said Missouri has become “an outlier” when it comes to sports wagering and is losing tax dollars, with border states like Illinois and Kansas having approved it. 

With lawmakers failing to approve sports wagering again, DeWitt said pro sports teams are mulling the idea of going directly to voters on the topic. The executive said a ballot initiative is something to consider, but that teams have not had recent discussions about it because they were hopeful lawmakers would approve sports gambling this year.

According to DeWitt, legal sports betting would offer the Cardinals the ability to bring in new revenue, as pro teams often craft partnerships with online sports wagering companies in other states.