16,000 Missourians Were Blocked from Sports Betting in Kansas

It turns out that the residents of Missouri seem pretty eager to make sports bets as on September 1 16,000 of them were blocked from doing so after neighboring state Kansas launched its sports betting market.

Missourians Want to Be Able to Place Sports Bets in Their Own State

Sports betting in Missouri is not legalized but most neighboring states have already launched their sports wagering markets with Kansas being the latest to join the party.

On September 1, location detection software and cybersecurity services provider GeoComply Solutions blocked a total of 16,000 attempts from Missourians to place bets on Kansas sports betting mobile applications. About 60% of those were located in the Missourian part of Kansas City, just miles away from the state border with Kansas. This goes to show the great interest Missouri residents have in sports wagering.

As a result, Caleb Rowden, who is a member of the Missouri State Senate, has stated that the legalization of sports betting in Missouri will be one of the priorities in the senate’s next legislative round. The senator further noted that introducing sports wagering in the state is something politicians across all parties support, not only his fellow republicans.

Kansas is the 32^nd state to legalize sports betting. The official launch of the retail sports wagering market was set for September 1, while the online betting options will go live on September 8. Everybody who is over 21 is allowed to place bets on sports events as long as the person is located within the Kansas state borders. GeoComply Solutions has noted that a bettor’s location is verified a number of times during his or her use of sports betting app and as close as someone is to the state border the more often the software checks that person’s exact location.

Missouri’s Gambling Legislation Hassles

The fact that Kansas has launched retail and online sports betting does not mean that the same will happen in Missouri. Neighbor state Illinois launched its sports betting market in 2020, while sports betting has been live in Missouri’s northern neighbor, Iowa, since 2019.

Missouri lacks not only legislation in terms of sports betting. Even regulations regarding the already legal gambling options are unclear and need improvement. For example, the state has been struggling with the illegal spread of slot machines at petrol stations, bars, and corner shops. The main reason for the troubles is that unlike in neighboring states Illinois, for example, Missouri there is no legislation that controls and taxes such gambling machines outside of casinos.