Missouri Fantasy Sports Sites

All daily fantasy sports operators must apply for licenses from the Missouri Gaming Commission before offering real-money contests.

Licensed fantasy sports apps in Missouri must keep customers’ funds in segregated accounts for safekeeping, provide responsible gambling tools like voluntary deposit limits, and take all reasonable steps to ensure a level playing field.

In short, it pays to use licensed DFS apps exclusively because the Missouri Gaming Commission is an effective regulator that ensures customers’ money is safe and games are fair.

The Missouri Gaming Commission  of licensed daily fantasy sports apps for verification.

Pick’em Fantasy Sports in Missouri

Fantasy pick’em apps that involve over/under picks on athlete stats like points scored and rushing yards are permitted to a limited degree in Missouri.

State law prohibits player-vs-house contests, but pick’em fantasy sites like PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy that offer player-vs-player variants are legal.

The Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) weighed in on player-vs-house pick’em contests in March 2024 with a memo sent to all fantasy sports operators licensed in Missouri.

In the memo, the MGC explained that Missouri law prohibits “player vs. house contests in which the operator could ultimately be the winning participant.”

More specifically, the MGC identified pick’em contests, parlay-style contests, or any other contest that mimics sports wagering as prohibited fantasy variants.

Several fantasy operators ceased all pick ’em-style contests in Missouri as a result. However, some relaunched later with peer-to-peer variants that still give fans the parlay-style experience, except consistent with Missouri law.

For example, PrizePicks launched its player-vs-player Arena pick’em contests in October 2024 after .

Today, two operators licensed by the Missouri Gaming Commission offer fantasy pick’em contests:

• PrizePicks
• Underdog Fantasy

Missouri DFS Laws and Regulations

, officially the Missouri Fantasy Sports Consumer Protection Act, establishes the legality of DFS contests and grants oversight authority to the Missouri Gaming Commission.

Under Missouri law, only licensed operators may offer fantasy sports contests, and customers must be 18 or older to participate.

Additional regulations () adopted by the Missouri Gaming Commission detail the specific licensing conditions, operator duties, and MGC powers required to regulate DFS in Missouri.

Consumer Protection Regulations

Operators must maintain information on file with the Missouri Gaming Commission detailing their procedures and security standards for the following:

• Receiving and responding to customer complaints
• Preventing access to customers whose locations have not been verified
• Verifying every player’s identity, age, and address
• Controls enabling parents and guardians to prevent minors from accessing Missouri fantasy sports contests
• Conspicuously identifying highly experienced players (users who have entered 1,000+ contests or won three $1,000+ prizes) to other users

Financial Protection Regulations

Licensed Missouri fantasy sports operators must protect customers’ deposited funds and be prepared to honor all withdrawal requests.

Per state law, fantasy sports operators must:

• Maintain a special purpose entity approved by the MGC to segregate customers’ funds from operational funds
• Continuously monitor all funds in the segregated account and players’ accounts
• Notify the MGC if, at any time, funds in the segregated account fall below the sum of all customer deposits
• Pay fantasy sports prizes to winners within 48 hours of the contest’s conclusion
• Honor withdrawal requests within five business days unless the operator has a good-faith belief that the customer engaged in fraud or other behavior that would put the operator in violation of state law
• Undergo an annual third-party audit of the operator’s finances and compliance with all applicable regulations

Responsible Gambling Requirements

Licensed fantasy sports operators in Missouri must encourage responsible gambling:

• Means for customers to submit self-exclusion requests online
• Information and resources about problem gambling
• Refraining from direct marketing to individuals who have self-excluded
• Not exaggerate the frequency or magnitude of daily fantasy winnings in advertisements
• Licensed fantasy sports sites in Missouri may not extend credit to players

Taxes and Fees

Missouri fantasy sports operators are subject to the following licensing and operating fees:

• Initial application fee equal to the cost of the Gaming Commission’s licensing suitability investigation, up to $10,000. If the investigation costs exceed $10,000, the operator must pay the remainder before receiving the license.
• Annual license renewal fee based on Missouri-derived net revenue. Operators generating over $2 million pay $5,000, those earning $1-2 million pay $2,500, and those making $250,000-$1 million pay $1,000. Operators earning less than $250,000 are exempt from the renewal fee.
• Annual operation fee equal to 6% of the operator’s net revenue derived from Missouri customers the previous year

How Missouri Legalized Fantasy Sports

Missouri DFS sites operated in a legal gray area before the legislature formally legalized and regulated fantasy sports. At the time, Missouri law neither explicitly banned nor regulated fantasy sports contests, creating uncertainty for operators and players.

Prominent DFS apps like FanDuel and DraftKings operated in Missouri under the 2006 UIGEA carve-out for fantasy sports, which allowed them to sidestep existing gambling restrictions.

However, that meant the Missouri Gambling Commission had no oversight powers over fantasy sports contests, leaving DFS operators self-regulated in critical areas like fair gameplay, responsible gambling, and fast payouts.

Additionally, Missouri received zero tax revenue from fantasy sports operators.

The Missouri legislature addressed these issues in 2016 by passing , which formally legalized, regulated, and taxed fantasy sports contests. Governor Jay Nixon signed the bill into law in June 2016.

Missouri Fantasy Sports FAQ