00:00So sports bettors in Missouri are going to have the NFL preseason come and go and then the regular season and college football come and go.
00:08They're going to have to wait till December. But it does appear that any small fighting or I should say probably like infighting in the state to try and push things back or stop it.
00:20It feels like December 1st, the first base, the first bets will be placed in Missouri.
00:24I think that's a safe bet at this point, Craig. I mean, last week was a big week for the process to get to that legally defined day that it has to start by, which is December 1st.
00:36And that's when the Missouri Gaming Commission has said it will start.
00:40They've decided that they're going to take all the time it can to take to launch, which, you know, in a lot of other states we've seen, you know, expedite that and launch quicker.
00:49But here we are. But last week, again, was a huge step in the right direction.
00:53You had a couple of deadlines. You had the tethered or the untethered license applications that were due.
01:00I mentioned last week that we had DraftKings and FanDuel apply to those.
01:05Now, what actually happened, too, was later the Missouri Gaming Commission confirmed that Circa Sports also had turned in a application post-dated or post-marked for that July 15th date.
01:18So Circa is also in the running for one of those two untethered licenses.
01:22That, of course, means you don't have to partner with one of the state's casinos or sports teams and share revenue and the like.
01:29So you're you're looking at more money ultimately than if you were just a partner like that.
01:34So though that though that those two licenses will be issued probably August 15th is the date they've said they'll announce it.
01:41There's a hearing that those three operators will be able to go in front of the commission and discuss at that point.
01:47Also, last week in Missouri, written public comments for the rules were due.
01:54And that's interesting because, you know, back in February, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who had played the role of, you know, an opponent, a major opponent, killing it basically three years in a row in the legislature.
02:04He said, no, you can't have emergency rules, which would have allowed them to get it up and running probably this summer before the sports or the football season.
02:13So, you know, that's kind of a neat focus is now we're through that because then on Thursday there was a hearing that would have allowed the people who, you know, commented, submitted written comments to, you know, stand in front of the commission, explain themselves, maybe answer questions if they needed.
02:28Instead, not one comment as they read line by line through all the rules was made.
02:34So, you know, it does look like, sure, there were probably quite a few written comments, which we'll know probably in the next couple of days.
02:40They probably weren't major enough that made, you know, all these operators stand up and say, hey, you know, this really needs to be changed or else, you know, it's going to be a big problem.
02:49So we're through that hurdle. Those rules go into effect August 30th, more if an operator is tethered to a casino or sports team and wants to launch by that December one date, they have to get those in the applications in by September 12th.
03:03So all of these dates are quickly coming up and passing by.
03:07So, gosh, you know, for as long as I've been coming on this show, Craig, we've been talking about Missouri and when they're going to legalize sports betting.
03:14I mean, you know, back when I first started coming on, we were talking about who's going to legalize first, Kansas or Missouri?
03:19Well, Kansas got it done, what, three years ago, four years ago, almost now.
03:23So it's been a while for people in Missouri and here we finally are, right, knocking on the door for them to have sports betting.
