The Missouri Senate entertained its first sports betting hearing of the 2023 session on Wednesday, with casinos and professional sports teams speaking in favor of a legal wagering bill that would allow both retail and statewide mobile wagering.
The measure would enable sports betting through existing casinos and professional sports venues, whose representatives claimed “agnosticism” or spoke against a second bill that additionally would legalize video lottery terminals.
But the real discussion was happening behind the scenes in a paper war in which factions differ on whether SB 1, the bill from Sen. Denny Hoskins that seeks to marry legal wagering with legal VLTs, is constitutional.
Two documents arguing for and against the bill’s constitutionality were obtained by . Both were written by Jefferson City legal firms that specialize in gaming law.