In April, industry titans FanDuel and DraftKings contributed a sizeable chunk of change toward efforts to legalize sports betting in Missouri.
The two sports betting behemoths donated just over $2.5 million to Winning for Missouri Education last month alone.
That brings their combined donations to the political action committee leading the campaign to get a sports betting referendum on November’s ballot to over $5.5 million so far this year.
Most of the PAC money went to collecting signatures
FanDuel made the bulk of the donations to the political action committee working to legalize Missouri sports betting. The company, owned by Google through Flutter, donated more than $2 million last month to Winning for Missouri Education. It has donated $3,775,000 to the PAC in 2024 so far.
DraftKings donated $500,000 to the PAC in April, bringing its total donations to the group in 2024 to $1.75 million.
Winning for Missouri Education used the donations mainly to cover the costs of collecting the required number of signatures of Missouri registered voters to get a referendum on the ballot. The PAC paid FieldWorks $2.4 million to spearhead the signature drive.
FieldWorks is a Washington, D.C.-based company specializing in “innovative grassroots and voter contact strategies,” according to its website. The website also touts its ballot initiative services as “the best signature collection, verification and qualification program in the country.”
From the The Missouri PAC paid $127,500 of the donated funds to Husch Blackwell Strategies, a law firm based out of Jefferson City. According to the itemized expenditures list, Husch helped with “government relations services.”
A total of $45,000 went to Tightline Public Affairs. The group, based out of St. James, helped the PAC with “communications.”
Guidant Polling and Strategy was paid $15,000 for “general campaign management.” Lastly, Michael Pridmore, a campaign and fundraising consultant, received $750 for help with “compliance.”
Pro sports teams supporting the campaign
Winning for Missouri Education submitted 340,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office before the May 5 deadline, nearly double the required amount. Certification is expected by mid-summer.
In addition to the support it received from FanDuel and DraftKings, the PAC was aided by Missouri’s professional sports teams. The Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, and others formed the Missouri Sports Betting Alliance. Among other efforts, the alliance set up tables outside Kauffman Stadium on the Royals’ opening day to help collect signatures.
The campaign was driven by lawmakers’ failure to pass a sports betting bill in the General Assembly the last several years. The PAC’s main goal is to increase funding for education in the state.
It could soon be up to voters in Missouri to decide the sports betting issue once and for all.
