The Missouri Senate is going to see some new faces in 2025, while some familiar faces will be showing up in new places. Current Sen. Denny Hoskins is among those exiting the chamber for a different governmental role, and his departure may indirectly improve the chances that Missouri could see online casino legislation in future years.
The reason is that Hoskins is a proponent of adding video lottery terminals (VLTs) to the state. Specifically, during his time in the Senate, Hoskins has been the most vocal proponent of bundling VLTs with sports betting as a single gambling expansion package. In other states where VLTs have become important, their stakeholders have emerged as fierce opponents of any other “convenience” gambling, including online casinos.
Voters in Missouri have just given lawmakers the green light to legalize sports betting. At the same time, they selected Hoskins as the next Missouri Secretary of State. That puts him at a greater distance from the specifics of the sports betting implementation.
With Hoskins now in a different capacity in Jefferson City, there is greater uncertainty regarding the future of VLTs in Missouri. That, in turn, could improve the chance that the state will someday legalize and regulate online casino play for real money.
Hoskins’ insistence on VLTs was thorough
Hoskins has insisted that he wasn’t the only member of the Missouri Senate who wants the state to regulate VLTs. Nonetheless, there’s no denying that Hoskins has been the most active and visible proponent of the idea. In 2023, Hoskins went so far as to filibuster a bill he originally sponsored, solely to prevent the enactment of a sports betting legalization bill that lacked a provision for VLTs.
There has been another significant change since Hoskins staged that filibuster. On Tuesday, voters across Missouri narrowly approved the constitutional amendment establishing a basic framework for legal sports wagering. That framework makes no provision for VLTs.
The Missouri legislature will still need to take some action to implement that gaming expansion. That’s where Hoskins’ absence might have immediate ramifications.
VLT champion shoes could remain empty
It’s unclear whether Hoskins’ soon-to-be-former Senate colleagues will advocate for VLT regulation to the same extent as Hoskins did. Missourians should get an answer to that question soon after the 2025 regular session begins, though.
Enabling legislation for sports wagering will likely be a priority during the session. Once that has been enacted, the final foreseeable chance to tie VLT regulation to sports betting passes.
Therefore, if another member of the Missouri Senate hopes to become the new champion of bundling VLTs with sports betting, that person will need to move quickly. There is always the chance that VLT regulation could be done separately at a later date. However, the enabling legislation for sports betting seems an opportune moment for that interest.
Should VLT regulation continue to languish in Missouri, that could bode well for the prospects of other gambling expansion, such as online poker, slots, and table games.
In fact, VLT stakeholders could become allies rather than opponents if the next best chance for their product is to tie those efforts together the way Hoskins hoped to with sports betting. That’s how things shook out in Pennsylvania, for instance. Although it’s an uneasy truce between VLTs and iGaming there, it’s a much better situation than in Illinois. There, VLT proponents got their way first and immediately set about pulling up the ladder on any additional competition.
VLTs staying gray could be good news for online casinos
In the absence of legal VLTs, Missourians have gotten used to the presence of quasi-legal “gray” machines.
It’s uncertain how many of these unregulated gambling machines are currently operational in the state. An estimate from 2021 put the number between 14,000 and 20,000.
The regulation of gaming machines would make the operators of all those machines stakeholders in the legal gaming industry in Missouri. As such, they might oppose online casino legalization out of fear that it would reduce their revenue.
On the other hand, if the legal status of gray machines remains nebulous or even deteriorates, that could mean less opposition to regulated online casinos. The lack of official status and the need to avoid the spotlight gives those machines’ operators less footing to push back on new legislation.
Online casino legalization not imminent in Missouri
It’s important to note that Missouri is not on the verge of any further expansion at this time, though. Speculation about the prospects for iGaming is forward-looking.
When it comes to regulated online casinos in Missouri, the entire premise is still in the realm of goals rather than actual conversations. Hoskins’ absence in the Senate and a continued gray-market status quo for physical gaming machines wouldn’t necessarily hasten such deliberations. It only removes one potential obstacle if and when that discussion begins.
Nor are VLTs the only potential opponent. Resistance to online casino legislation could still come from the state’s brick-and-mortar casino operators, the unions representing their workers, or any number of other interests. Even potential allies can become opponents instead. Caesars, which operates three retail casinos in Missouri, actually funded the opposition to the sports betting referendum because it didn’t like the terms.
With sports betting implementation the likely focus of gaming efforts in Jefferson City in 2025, hopes for online casinos in the near future are likely a fantasy. Hoskins serving as the Secretary of State instead of occupying a Senate seat might mean an opposition coalition in the future would have fewer members, though.
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