Kansas City’s sports bars on the Missouri side could see a little more action on those NFL Sundays when the Chiefs have a bye or play on a different day of the week.
Thanks to the passage of a new Missouri law allowing sports betting, this time next year, Missourians won’t have to cross State Line to place a sports wager. That means the Show Me State will get sportsbook gambling sections in casinos, and with online smartphone-enabled gambling, every game can get more interesting—like it is in Kansas.
Could sportsbooks in Missouri lure patrons away from Kansas? Only time will tell.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving, there wasn’t much football fatigue at KCK’s Hollywood Casino ESPN Bet. Even though the Chiefs had just come off an intense Black Friday win against the Raiders, an impressive midday crowd still showed up looking to bet. On peak nights, like the Chiefs Black Friday win, securing a table is next to impossible, and there are lines at the ESPN Bet’s 30 wagering kiosks.
Casinos and bookies in Missouri are hoping that come Dec. 1, 2025, when the new law goes into effect, sports gambling in Missouri will be just as popular. Until then, Missourians in the metro must still drive to Kansas to bet on events like the Super Bowl, college basketball, UFC and everything in between (not unlike Kansans needing to hit Missouri for weed).
When the sports-gambling switch flips in KCMO, there are several possibilities for sportsbooks in the local casino world. The Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City, just north of the Missouri River, Bally’s Kansas City, with its river-straddling outpost on the other side of the Missouri, and Harrah’s Kansas City are all versed in sports gambling, already offering it at other casinos they own.
Could sportsbooks in those outlets lure Missouri patrons away from Hollywood’s ESPN Bet and the like? Maybe. But Hollywood’s owner, Pennsylvania-based Penn Entertainment, also counts Argosy Casino & Hotel, in Riverside, as part of its national portfolio, where it could add sports wagers through its ESPN licensing deal.
Penn CEO Jay Snowden doesn’t seem too worried about potential competition to the Hollywood sportsbook. “We think we’re pretty well positioned,” Snowden said during the company’s most recent earnings call, also noting that in Missouri “there’s real sports fandom.”
The degree of that fandom and ability to bet anywhere at any time on a smartphone is the real competition any brick and mortar sportsbook faces. Penn has ESPN Bet, Bally’s is attached to FanDuel, and Caesars operates a namesake app, meaning if you can’t make it to the sportsbook, they’re more than happy to come to you. Anywhere.
Whatever plans are cooking for future sportsbooks at Kansas City’s casinos, the competition’s going to be tough in the form of an iPhone or Android that allows its users to bet wherever they please.
And if 2022’s Kansas gambling ad blitz was any indicator, Kansas City’s residents will hear all about their new options soon enough.
