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)