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Missourians will be able to bet on sports this year, though not by .
That鈥檚 in part because of a decision by Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to reject the Missouri Gaming Commission鈥檚 emergency rules, which would have fast-tracked the rulemaking process.
Jan Zimmerman, chair of the Missouri Gaming Commission, said the emergency rule would have given staff of the Missouri State Highway Patrol more time to complete the 鈥渆xtensive鈥 process of investigating license applicants.
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But Hoskins wrote that the regular process 鈥 including a public comment period and a review by a state committee 鈥 was needed to ensure 鈥渢he people of Missouri are appropriately informed and have a say in the final decisions.鈥
In a that voters narrowly approved last year to legalize sports betting in Missouri, the state was given a deadline of Dec. 1, 2025, to launch sports betting. The state is on track to meet that deadline, Zimmerman said.
The commission in May approved Missouri鈥檚 new sports betting rules, which 鈥渃over everything from processing license applications to disciplinary action,鈥 Zimmerman said.
鈥淓very phase of sports wagering allows us to provide oversight,鈥 she added.
License applications are currently open. Zimmerman said 鈥渦ntethered鈥 licenses, which go to operators not connected to a casino or stadium, will be issued in August while other licenses will be issued in November.
While 鈥渆veryone is anxious for the end of baseball season (and) the beginning of football season,鈥 Zimmerman said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 important that the gaming commission staff get it right 鈥 Our responsibility is to protect the industry and the folks who work in the industry, but also to protect the citizens of Missouri.鈥
The state expects to collect about $28 million in tax revenue from sports betting annually. However, how much money 鈥 a key selling point used during last year鈥檚 campaign 鈥 is still unclear.
Some of the taxes collected will first be used to cover the commission鈥檚 regulatory expenses, according to the amendment. After that, $5 million or 10% 鈥 whichever is more 鈥 will be sent to the Compulsive Gaming Prevention Fund. The rest will be used for K-12 and higher education.
A new fund for problem gambling
The amendment created the Compulsive Gaming Prevention Fund, which is distinct from the Missouri Department of Mental Health鈥檚 Compulsive Gamblers Fund.
Overseen by the state treasurer and managed by the Gaming Commission, the new fund will help provide compulsive gambling counseling and support services, develop problem-gambling treatment and prevention programs and distribute grants to organizations that help people with compulsive gambling problems.
Unlike other state appropriations 鈥 which, if unspent, typically go back to the general revenue fund 鈥 this fund will roll over into following years.
That鈥檚 a critical part of addressing compulsive gambling in the state, according to Keith Spare, chair of the Kansas City Port Authority Problem Gambling Advisory Committee and the Missouri Alliance to Curb Problem Gambling.
鈥淚n the case of this $5 million, if it is not spent, it stays in the fund to be spent later. That鈥檚 incredible, because that means you have something to plan on,鈥 he said. 鈥淢issouri funding will now be, for the first time in history, secure for problem gambling.鈥
Roughly 3.1 million Missourians participate in some form of gambling each year, according to . About 200,000 met the criteria for a gambling disorder and another million met enough criteria to be considered at-risk.
An estimated globally have a gambling disorder. In the United States, the legalization of gambling and the proliferation of sports betting have made compulsive gambling 鈥 which similar to alcohol and drugs 鈥 more widespread, .
suggests that when a state legalizes gambling, the number of bankruptcies rises between 20% and 35%. Financial hardship is one of the main reasons that nationally, an estimated one in five compulsive gamblers considers or attempts suicide, said Spare, a retired substance use and compulsive gambling counselor.
With sports betting going live in Missouri this year, Spare and other experts are worried that outcomes like bankruptcy and suicide will become more severe even if the number of people with gambling disorders doesn鈥檛 rise much.
鈥淲hen you have the prevalence of gambling online 鈥 and this is going to be largely online 鈥 you have the ability to gamble day and night, basically in a private setting,鈥 he added. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 putting gas on a fire.鈥
A fresh start?
The money allocated to the Compulsive Gaming Prevention Fund will help the state better serve people with compulsive gambling problems. But Spare鈥檚 main concern is whether the department 鈥 which he said 鈥渉as largely abandoned problem gamblers鈥 鈥 will spend the money effectively.
鈥淚鈥檝e said to (the department) from the beginning: 鈥榊ou need an advisory committee. You need people who can tell you what鈥檚 a good idea, what鈥檚 not a good idea, and here鈥檚 how to do it,鈥欌 he said. 鈥淏ut like they鈥檝e done all along, they want to do what they want to do and not have any public input.鈥
The Missouri Department of Mental Health repeatedly declined requests for an interview and only replied to one of several questions sent by The Beacon.
In that response, a spokesperson wrote that the new fund is managed by the Gaming Commission, but that , the General Assembly approved $4 million from the fund to go to the Department of Mental Health.
That money includes $1.5 million for 鈥減revention and education services,鈥 $500 thousand for 鈥渁dult psychiatric services鈥 and $2 million for 鈥渢reatment of alcohol and drug abuse.鈥
Spare said that although the Department of Mental Health requested some money from the older fund 鈥 the Compulsive Gamblers Fund 鈥 for several years, 鈥渓ast year, they drew down nothing.鈥
He said that when he asked the department鈥檚 director of behavioral health, Nora Bock, about her division鈥檚 limited use of the fund, he was told, 鈥溾榃ell, my counselors don鈥檛 know that there鈥檚 many gamblers out there.鈥欌
鈥淲ell, that鈥檚 all in how you ask the question,鈥 Spare told The Beacon. 鈥淚f you say, 鈥楧o you have a gambling problem?鈥 every gambler is going to say no 鈥 Her opinion is that if there isn鈥檛 a lot of demand (for counseling), there isn鈥檛 a lot of problem gambling. Well, that doesn鈥檛 mean people aren鈥檛 dying.鈥
The department did not respond to The Beacon鈥檚 questions about Spare鈥檚 concerns.
Spare said a major reason for low demand for help is a lack of awareness that is due, in part, to the fact that counseling and other services are only advertised on casino, lottery and sports betting ads.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a difference between marketing to get gamblers in treatment 鈥 (and) traditional advertising for casinos and the lottery,鈥 he said. 鈥淵ou need to find a way to get advertising to the general public and to the gamblers about when this is a problem, why it鈥檚 a problem and what to do about it.鈥
He said the state has spent decades 鈥済etting alcohol and drug abuse to be recognizable鈥 so that people can identify the warning signs of addiction in their loved ones and help them find care, but 鈥渢here鈥檚 nothing like that for problem gambling.鈥
鈥淲e need advertising that says not to gamble, to be aware that if you do gamble, these are the problem signs, and if you see them in your family member or neighbor or co-worker, raise the alarm,鈥 Spare said.
Accessing care
Even for those who do seek help, state resources are limited, Spare said.
have contracts with the Department of Mental Health to provide compulsive gambling counseling services at no cost to qualifying Missourians. However, of those, only six have a certified gambling disorder counselor on staff.
Calls to the 1-888-BETSOFF number are routed to these counselors. In the Kansas City region, the state has partnered with University Health in Kansas City and Family Guidance Center in St. Joseph.
Jordyn Johnston, an alcohol and drug counselor at University Health, is also a gambling disorder counselor, providing in-person and remote counseling for people living anywhere in Missouri.
She currently works with eight compulsive gambling patients and said she has seen demand increase over time, particularly in rural areas.
Part of that increase could stem from the legalization of sports betting in Kansas in 2022, with many Missourians .
鈥淚 live on the Kansas side, and I actually see people pulled off on the 435 ramp on Saturday mornings, placing their bets,鈥 Johnston said. 鈥淭here鈥檒l be like five to 10 cars lined up on those off-ramps.鈥
As demand for services increases, it places more strain on the state鈥檚 gambling disorder counselors, many of whom are also alcohol and substance use counselors. While Johnston works with eight patients with a gambling disorder, she works with 35 to 40 patients with substance use disorder.
She said that as the state prepares for another potential increase in the number of people seeking care for gambling disorders, she鈥檚 hopeful that University Health and other organizations will bring on more counselors.
Spare said Oklahoma offers a virtual training for problem gambling counseling that, for a $4,000 annual fee, an unlimited number of Missouri-based counselors can attend. But he said the Department of Mental Health hasn鈥檛 expressed much interest in the Oklahoma program.
While the state hotline refers people to the handful of agencies that have partnered with the state, there are other counselors across Missouri, Spare said. Port KC鈥檚 Problem Gambling Advisory Committee paid for dozens to be trained in the last few years alone.
The problem, he said, is that there isn鈥檛 a comprehensive list of public and private counselors able to provide problem gambling care, which makes it harder to find a local counselor or gauge how well the current supply of counselors could keep up with a potential increase in demand.
Johnston said that if people with gambling disorders aren鈥檛 able to access care, the repercussions could be dire for them and their families.
鈥淭he rate of suicide is increasingly high for those people, because gambling is an addiction where it doesn鈥檛 really have those outward symptoms. 鈥 A lot of the things that they go through are really hidden, and even their family doesn鈥檛 know,鈥 she said.
鈥淎 lot of it is financial problems 鈥 they鈥檙e in so much debt, they鈥檝e gambled away their house, and they really feel like there鈥檚 no other option left, (like) there鈥檚 nothing else for them and suicide is the only option,鈥 she added.
Building a better sports betting system
Spare said Missouri could learn from neighbors like Kansas and Oklahoma, which pay for specialists and counselors statewide and offer a hotline staffed by trained gambling counselors.
鈥淚n Missouri, we have a hotline paid for by the gaming industry that鈥檚 answered by college students 鈥 All they try to do is make referrals,鈥 he said.
Asked what the state should do with its new fund, Spare advocated for a full range of services, including individual and family counseling, inpatient treatment and 鈥渇irst and foremost, an advertising campaign 鈥 that gets people to come for treatment.鈥
He also pushed for a 鈥渘o wrong door鈥 approach through which mental health and substance use counselors are also trained to provide gambling disorder care so that 鈥渨herever someone shows up looking for care, it鈥檚 available.鈥
That care must also be long-term, Spare said, likening it to addressing substance use disorder.
鈥淎ddiction is a mental disease. It鈥檇 be like saying, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to give you six weeks of medicine for schizophrenia and then we鈥檙e not going to worry about you,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy, but some people think that way: 鈥榃hy aren鈥檛 you over it? Why don鈥檛 you quit? Why did you start again?鈥 Because it鈥檚 an addiction.鈥
The Beacon鈥檚 Blaise Mesa contributed to this story.
This article first appeared on Beacon: Missouri and is republished here under a .
Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of images each week; here's a glimpse at the week of June 8, 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.
