- Caesars Entertainment has donated more than $4 million to a campaign fighting against the Missouri sports betting initiative
- Caesars donated the campaign funding to Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment
- Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment filed as an official committee with the Missouri Ethics Commission last this week
Caesars recently donated more than $4 million to a campaign actively fighting the Missouri sports betting ballot initiative.
Through its three Missouri based casinos, Caesars donated $4,156,202.79 to Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment, a campaign officially opposing the sports betting initiative that will appear on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.
According to multiple reports, Caesars is not in favor of the proposed ballot initiative, which would only provide the gaming company with one online sportsbook license if sports betting is approved in the state.
Opposition Mounting in Missouri
According to filings with the Missouri Ethics Commission, Caesars made four separate donations to Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment. The campaign officially filed with the commission on Sept. 10 to oppose the sports betting initiative question.
Caesars made the following contributions through its corporate entity and three separately owned land-based Missouri casinos:
- Caesars Enterprise Services: $156,202.79
- Tropicana St. Louis: $1,300,000
- Harrah’s North Kansas: $1,400,000
- Isle of Capri Boonville: $1,300,000
According to a press release from the campaign, the amendment will only benefit the out-of-state corporations that created the initiative.
“Amendment 2 is a bad deal for Missouri. This deceptive measure was written by and for the financial benefit of its out-of-state corporate sponsors and funders,” said Brooke Foster, a spokesperson for Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment, in a statement.
Under the proposed ballot initiative, the state’s casinos would receive a single online sports betting license and two untethered licenses will be available for sports betting companies to operate in Missouri. Caesars likely has a problem with this aspect of the proposed initiative, as previous iterations of Missouri sports betting bills allowed casino operators to have multiple online sports betting skins.
Each Missouri sports team and casino would be eligible to operate retail and online sports betting. Each team and casino would be eligible for one retail sports betting license through the bill. Additionally, each sports team and casino would be eligible for one online sports betting license. Each team and casino would be able to partner with one online sports betting operator.
Lawsuit Did Not Stop Sports Betting Initiative
The ballot opposition is now mounting after a lawsuit attempting to strip the ballot of the sports betting initiative question was defeated.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Aug. 21 by plaintiffs Jacqueline Wood and Blake Lawrence, claimed the Winning for Missouri Education campaign came up short for valid signatures in Missouri’s first and fifth Congressional districts and Ashcroft’s determination of sufficiency was incorrect.
The plaintiffs alleged that Secretary of State John “Jay” Ashcroft improperly calculated the number of signatures because he failed “to take the total number of people who voted for governor in 2020, multiply that number by eight percent, and then divide that number equally among Missouri’s eight Congressional Districts.”
A judge determined that the plaintiffs did not provide sufficient evidence to show Ashcroft incorrectly calculated the necessary valid signatures and ruled in favor of the defendants.
FanDuel Donates to Support Campaign
FanDuel donated another $1.5 million to the Winning for Missouri Education campaign in support of the ballot initiative on Friday, Sept. 13. FanDuel does not own a land-based casino in the state and would likely be one of the sportsbooks (DraftKings the other) that would apply for an untethered online sports betting license if the ballot initiative is approved.
FanDuel and DraftKings have combined to donate $11.55 million to the campaign.
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