Best Online Sportsbook Missouri: Eight Apps, One Launch Day

Best online sportsbook Missouri is a crowded question by design — instead of licensing one or two operators and letting the market grow, the state turned on eight mobile sportsbooks at once on December 1, 2025, with a ninth following within the week. Missouri voters approved Amendment 2 in November 2024 by one of the narrowest margins of any state sports-betting referendum, 4,366 votes out of nearly 2.9 million cast, and the licensing framework the Gaming Commission built from it produced a launch field unlike any other state's.

Is Online Sports Betting Legal in Missouri?

Yes, as of December 1, 2025. Amendment 2 added sports wagering to the Missouri Constitution, authorizing retail betting at the state's 13 licensed casinos and mobile betting through operators tethered to those casinos or to Missouri's professional sports franchises. The Missouri Gaming Commission spent roughly a year writing regulations and reviewing license applications before the statewide switch-on, one of the longer implementation windows among recent legalization states but also one of the few that opened with a near-full operator field on day one rather than a staggered rollout.

FanDuel Edges DraftKings — Barely

The first full month of legal wagering, December 2025, produced $543 million in statewide handle. FanDuel led with $212 million, running through a market-access tether to St. Louis City SC rather than a casino — an arrangement Missouri's law allows that most states don't. DraftKings followed at $195 million, operating under one of only two licenses issued without any casino or team partner attached. Nothing else came close: Circa Sports, the other untethered operator, logged just $1.4 million.

Why the State Barely Collected Any Tax

Missouri taxes net sportsbook revenue, not handle, and the "net" in month one was almost nothing after promotions. Operators deducted more than $125 million in free bets and promotional credits before the 10% tax applied — FanDuel wrote off $53.2 million of its own revenue this way, DraftKings $48.5 million. The combined effect: $543 million wagered, and the state collected $521,200. Circa Sports is the outlier worth noting — its handle was tiny, but because it didn't pour promotional spend into user acquisition at the same scale, it was the one operator that actually paid a meaningful tax bill, $11,739, in the launch month.

Is It Safe to Bet in Missouri?

Safety here isn't in question the way it would be on an unlicensed offshore book — every operator on this list holds a Missouri Gaming Commission license, whether direct (DraftKings, Circa) or tethered through a casino or sports franchise (FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars, bet365, Fanatics, ESPN Bet). The honest caveat is about the state's cut, not the operators' legitimacy: Missouri collected a fraction of a percent of handle in tax during the launch month, which is a state-revenue story, not a player-safety one.

Worth using, in order of current scale: FanDuel or DraftKings for the deepest markets and biggest promos, BetMGM or Caesars if a home-casino tie matters to you, bet365 if you're already a Cardinals-side bettor. This is 21+ entertainment with a built-in house edge, not a way to make money, and the Missouri Alliance to Curb Problem Gambling helpline, 1-888-BETSOFF (1-888-238-7633), is free, confidential, and staffed 24/7.

The short list

1. 1. FanDuel — Missouri's highest-handle app in month one, via an MLS tether

   FanDuel booked $212 million of the state's $543 million December 2025 handle, more than any other licensed operator, running through a market-access tether to St. Louis City SC — Missouri is one of the only states where a top sportsbook partnered with a pro sports team instead of a casino.

2. 2. DraftKings — One of two operators with a license and no tether

   DraftKings booked $195 million in December 2025 handle and holds one of only two "untethered" direct mobile licenses the Missouri Gaming Commission issued — the other went to Circa Sports — meaning it runs independent of any casino or team partnership, unlike every other operator on this list.

3. 3. BetMGM — Live since a May 2025 Century Casinos tether

   BetMGM secured Missouri market access through a partnership with Century Casinos announced in May 2025, well ahead of the December 1 launch, giving it one of the earliest-locked paths into the state.

4. 4. Caesars Sportsbook — Tethered to two Missouri casinos, not one

   Caesars Sportsbook runs in Missouri through tethers to both Harrah's Kansas City and Horseshoe St. Louis, giving it a presence on both sides of the state that single-casino-tethered operators don't have.

5. 5. bet365 — The only app tethered to an MLB team

   bet365 partnered with the St. Louis Cardinals for Missouri market access — among 2025's launch-state operators, it's the only one riding a baseball franchise's tether rather than a casino's.

Questions this list actually answers