Several bills to legalize sports better in Missouri are making their way through the legislature.
But there are disputes over some provisions, with the gaming industry fighting back against proposals to pay royalties to sports leagues and a mandate to use data from one source.
The bills, which resemble legislation passed in 20 states, including Illinois, will make it legal to bet on sports in casinos and online. Illinois' first sports book will open at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines Monday.
Legalization of sports betting outside Nevada follows a U.S. Supreme Courrt ruling in 2018.
Mike Winter, chief executive of the Missouri Gaming Association, which represents casinos, said his organization opposes a number of provisions, including the royality fee and the data mandate.
"On royalties, no state in the country has included that in their legislation" Winter told the St. Louis Record. "The sports leagues have had no success in passing that provision."
Andy Hume, an executive associate athletic director at the University of Missouri, supports a royalty, or integrity, fee.
Hume told the Jefferson City News Tribune that the university will have to take on additional costs monitoring betting and training student athletes about the dangers of getting involved in betting.
On the provision that sports league have the sole right to deliver data, Winter argued that a number of companies provide that type and there should be no monopoly. Six of the 20 states with legal sports betting require book holders to use sports league data.
"Some language in the bill saying leagues can only charge what is commercially reasonable, but that would require a lengthy process and go through regulatory issues, a path we do not want to go down," Winter said.
Jeremy Kudon, a lobbyist representing the MLB, NBA and PGA Tour, told the News Tribune that the one-source data provision in Smith's bill would protect the integrity of the games.
Most legislators have voiced support for some type of legal betting.