Century Casino prepares for sports betting regulations

Sports betting, once a gamble to take off in Missouri, is close to becoming a reality. Voters approved Amendment 2, changing the state’s constitution to permit sports wagering, by less than 3,000 votes in November.

On Jan. 27, Gov. Mike Kehoe received a set of proposed rules and regulations from the Missouri Gaming Commission to review.

Century Casino & Hotel Cape Girardeau at 777 N. Main St. is one of 13 brick-and-mortar casinos in the state. Its leadership is preparing for the forthcoming allowance of sports betting both at the casino and online.

“I think there are certain things that are more conducive to wager on in-person, but to me it’s all about the overall experience to make sure it’s a great place to watch a game, experience it and place those wagers as well,” said Lyle Randolph, the casino’s vice president of operations.

Even so, online sports betting — where people can place wagers through apps — is significantly more popular.

“What we’ve seen in other states is that online is by far the majority of the use. It captures most of the business,” he said.

Missouri is the 39th state in the country to allow sports betting. The state is charging five-year license fees of $250,000 for on-site sportsbooks and $500,000 for mobile gaming.

Randolph anticipated Missouri will follow similar rules to those in other states. Seven of Missouri’s eight neighboring states, barring only Oklahoma, already allow sports betting.

Casino rules to come

Amendment 2 allows for the 13 casinos, two standalone online sportsbooks and six professional sports teams to offer sports betting.

Those teams are the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals of MLB, Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL, St. Louis Blues of the NHL, St. Louis CITY SC of MLS and the Kansas City Current of the NWSL. The online sportsbooks have not been determined.

Randolph said Century Casino will announce a partnership with an existing sports betting company for mobile wagering in the near future.

“From a final process plan, we’re going to have to move really quickly, but it’s probably going to be a few months before we get all of that together,” he said.

Eight of Missouri’s casinos are based around St. Louis and Kansas City, with three more in different cities in the northern half of the state. Century Casino locations in Cape Girardeau and Caruthersville are the only ones serving Southern Missouri.

Sports wagering requires a separate license from a gaming license. Randolph said the casino will get information from the gaming commission on how its implementation will work. Amendment 2 stipulates sports betting must be implemented by the end of 2025, with Missouri Gaming Commission aiming to roll it out in the summer.

“We certainly knew that there was value to the operation and we wanted to be a part of it,” Randolph said.

Casinos will need to ensure minors are not wagering on sports and will need to provide resources to treat problem gambling.

“Under the initiative, it specifically allocates $5 million in fees to help add to the existing programs related to problem gambling. It’s in there to help support those efforts,” Randolph said.