Missouri Sports Betting Handle Declines In Second Month
Missouri's mobile sports betting deal with declined from December 2025 to January 2026 as a preliminary marketing blitz diminished and the variety of possible football games to wager on decreased.
- Missouri's online sports betting handle dropped 29% from $538.8 million in December 2025 to $380.4 million in January 2026, while in-person deal with a little increased.
- Tax earnings fell greatly, with sportsbooks paying $138,000 in January, a 74% decrease from December, due to deductions for free-bet promotions.
- FanDuel and DraftKings led the market, catching nearly three-quarters of bets over the very first 2 months, with DraftKings overtaking FanDuel in January.
The state's online manage dropped from $538.8 million in its first month with legal betting down to $380.4 million in the second, an approximately 29% month-over-month decline, the Missouri Gaming Commission reported. Missouri's 8 in-person sportsbooks increased manage from $4.1 million to $4.7 million during that very same time.
The drop was anticipated following a massive marketing blitz around the state's Dec. 1 launch date. Sportsbooks invested more than $125 million on free bets in December compared to a little bit more than $33 million in January.
Fewer chances to bank on football, the most popular sport in the state (and nation), also contributed to the decrease, as there were less NFL and college football video games in January compared to December. Total football betting handle, not consisting of parlays, declined more than 50% in between the 2 months, dropping from nearly $152 million to $72 million.
Basketball took over as the most wagered-on sport in January, increasing handle from simply under $99 million in December to slightly more than $109 million.
Missouri sportsbook taxes
The month-over-month decline in Missouri sports betting tax was more pronounced.
Missouri sportsbooks paid around $138,000 in taxes in January, a nearly 74% drop from the more than $521,000 paid in December. Retail books contributed almost a third of the overall taxes despite accepting a little portion of the bets compared to online platforms.
Like a number of the other 31 states with statewide mobile sports betting, Missouri enables sportsbooks to deduct free-bet marketing play against their tax liabilities.
The books might also deduct their outstanding adjusted gross income losses from totally free bets for the previous month. The December promos around the launch date will likely be the greatest in state history, but it has nonetheless curtailed the state's potential for tax generation.
ICYMI: DraftKings topped FanDuel for the No. 1 manage area in Missouri in January; FD edged DK for the top mark in December
DraftKings - $144.4 m.
$125.7 m.
bet365 - $34.0 m.
BetMGM - $33.0 m.
Fanatics - $21.0 m.
Caesars - $14.1 m.
theScore Bet - $6.7 m.
Circa Sports - $1.5 m
FanDuel, DraftKings, and Fanatics, the nation's biggest sportsbooks by manage, have not yet had to pay taxes in Missouri on their sports betting profits due to their promotional deductions.
The books might continue substantial marketing spend in February around the Super Bowl and in March for the NCAA Tournament, however figures are set to decrease substantially as the year advances. Missouri jobs to generate more than $20 million in annual sports wagering taxes by 2030.
FanDuel and DraftKings tout launch
The nation's two biggest sportsbooks by market share extended that standing in Missouri's very first months of legal sports betting.
FanDuel, the No. 1 sportsbook by nationwide deal with share, topped the state's 8 mobile books in December by accepting nearly 40% of all bets positioned that month. FanDuel executives on a recent earnings call touted the "excellent" launch, saying customer acquisition was "ahead of expectations."
Around 5% of Missouri's adult population positioned a bet with FanDuel in the very first 1 month of launch, making Missouri "one of our finest state launches to date," FanDuel wrote in its profits statement.
DraftKings saw one of its highest consumer acquisition penetration rates and its second-highest gross income per grownup of any of its 18 jurisdiction launches considering that 2021, the company stated in its profits report. DraftKings took over the top area in January from FanDuel, with 38% of the state's wagering handle to 33% for its rival.
DraftKings has accepted $339.7 million in bets throughout Missouri's very first 2 months with sports wagering, compared to $338.4 million for FanDuel. The pair has represented almost three-quarters of all bets placed in the state.