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When sports wagering went live in Missouri on Monday, St. Louis sports fans Craig Riggins and Ledrick Wilson didn’t waste time logging on.
For years, both men crossed the river to place bets in Illinois. Now, with a mobile app in hand, they say convenience and cost were the immediate draw.
“For me, it’s a gas thing,” said Riggins, 65, a KTRS radio sports announcer and automotive industry salesman. “I don’t have to purchase as much gas traveling to Illinois anymore. We’re finally catching up with the rest of the country and, besides that, it’s good for the state.”
But as legal betting expands, Missouri is poised to inherit a set of problems long documented in other states: rising gambling addiction, financial losses and mental health strains that fall hardest on Black residents, according to national research.
Black bettors are more likely to wager, more likely to increase betting after seeing ads and more likely to suffer the economic fallout. Critics also question claims that sports wagering will deliver meaningful new money to public education.
Betting with guardrails
Even so, people like Riggins and Wilson say they weighed the risks, watched others struggle and still chose to participate with guardrails they hope will keep the pastime from becoming a pitfall.
Wilson, 54, who works in auto manufacturing, placed his first legal Missouri wager on Monday’s New York Giants-New England Patriots game.
“Man, I couldn’t wait,” he said. “I know some people who’ve lost their houses due to gambling, and I do worry about that at times. But it’s like any other addiction. For me, I set a budget where it won’t impact other necessities in my life like rent.”
A narrow vote that changed the landscape
Their enthusiasm reflects a broader demand that built during years of stalled attempts to authorize sports betting in Missouri. The issue finally went to voters last fall as Amendment 2, a measure to allow online and in-person sports wagering and direct revenue to education.
The measure passed in November 2024 by fewer than 3,000 votes, making Missouri the 38th state to legalize sports betting.
Mobile licenses have been issued to major operators including DraftKings, FanDuel Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, bet365, BetMGM, Circa Sports, Fanatics Sportsbook and Penn Sports Interactive.
Ads that hit harder for some communities
Sports wagering companies have flooded Missouri with ads, many featuring high-profile entertainers. While those ads aren’t explicitly targeted to Black consumers, national research shows they may have disproportionate effects.
A 2023 NCAA survey found that 68% of Black respondents engaged in sports betting, compared to 63% of Hispanic respondents, 55% of Asian respondents and 54% of white respondents. African Americans also tended to place larger wagers.
The study found that Black respondents saw ads at similar rates as other groups, but 65% said the ads increased their likelihood to bet.
That’s what troubles Pastor NL Grice of Greater Rising Star, a church near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Prairie Avenue. He said legalized gambling could become another pressure point for residents already facing instability.
“The negative aspect is that it can be a catalyst for further financial hardships,” Grice said.
People often turn to gambling as a way to cope, he added, and “if they’re doing that to compensate for their hardship, it can push them further into debt or homelessness or high-interest loans. … Economic desperation can also lead to criminal activities.”
Riggins doesn’t dismiss concerns about disproportionate harm in Black communities, but he sees the political support for legalization differently.
Big promises, contested payoffs
Backers of Amendment 2 promised that more than $100 million would support education programs in the first five years. FanDuel and DraftKings together contributed more than $15 million to the campaign committee “Winning for Missouri Education,” highlighting constitutional language that directs gambling tax revenue to public schools.
Opponents argued the promise was misleading. Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling circulated a “fact sheet” warning the measure guaranteed nothing for schools.
Some educators echoed those concerns.
“We have to stop using teachers as political pawns,” Jason Roberts, president of the Kansas City Federation of Teachers and School Related Personnel, told The Kansas City Star last year. “They’re using teachers as a false promise, making false promises to the voters that we’re going to make teachers’ lives better only to expand gambling in the state of Missouri.”
Missouri taxes adjusted gross sports betting revenue at 10%. The Missouri Gaming Commission collects those funds, reimburses regulatory costs and sends at least $5 million or 10% of annual tax revenue to the Department of Mental Health for compulsive gambling services.
Calls for oversight grow louder
National advocates say the investment is necessary.
Rev. Al Sharpton wrote to the Federal Trade Commission in May 2024 urging tighter scrutiny of advertising practices, citing the NCAA findings.
“When a duopoly takes hold, consumers are the biggest losers, and the most vulnerable consumers — including Black Americans — bear the brunt of that harm,” he wrote.
Health experts warn that problem gambling is linked to bankruptcy, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and stress-related physical conditions like hypertension, a major risk factor in the Black community. Nationally, more than 20 million Americans are in gambling debt, with average losses near $55,000.
Legal, but not without controversy
Sports wagering may now be legal in Missouri, but national scandals show the risks. Earlier this year, the NBA banned former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for disclosing confidential information to bettors and limiting his own play for gambling purposes.
And in October, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were charged in federal court with crimes tied to providing information to gamblers and involvement in Mafia-backed poker schemes.
As for Wilson’s first Missouri wager on Monday, did it pay off?
“No, but I still have the lights on,” Wilson recounted. “Better luck next time, right?”
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.
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