KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.
Tod spent months studying the sports gaming industry and shared what to expect with KSHB 41 viewers when sports betting became legal. He will continue to track how the new industry fares in the area.
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A small slice of Las Vegas is coming to Kansas City with sports gambling set to become legal on Monday in Missouri.
If industry-wide trends hold, most wagers in the Show-Me State will be placed on mobile gaming apps, but physical sportsbooks, where gamblers can watch games and place in-person bets, also will be popping up next week at the riverboat casinos — including Argosy Casino and Hotel, which offered a sneak peek Tuesday of its new spot.
Crews were working through finishing touches at The Sportsbook, which will be integrated into an expanded casino floor. It will be unique among Kansas City sportsbooks with a dedicated kitchen for sports fans with an appetite beyond betting and booze.
“It gives our customers something new and a new reason to come to our building,” Argosy’s Vice President of Marketing Tyrone Myrick said. “We’ve been here over 30 years, so we don’t get new things all the time, so this is exciting for us to be able to deliver something new to our customers.”
I caught up with Ryan Howard on Tuesday afternoon at Union Station. He’s among the millions who enjoy placing the occasional bet.
“I don’t bet crazy amounts of money when I’m sports betting, but I’ll do a bunch of parlays at the same time — $10, $15 parlays and stuff like that,” he said.
Howard has had enough success to take his wife on a couple vacations with his winnings.
Normally, he uses a mobile gaming app — like most people who wager three to four times a week, as Howard said he did — but the live-betting experience also has its appeal.
“I do venture out to Hollywood (Casino at Kansas Speedway) a couple times a year and hang out there, watch some games on a Saturday, catch a bunch of the college games and all that,” Howard said.
It’s a unique immersive experience.
“When you get into the sports-betting area, it’s not like you’re in the casino — or it doesn’t feel like that anymore,” Howard said. “There’s nice leather couches, nice comfortable recliners, TVs with every game single game on. It’s just great. It’s simple, because I can sit there and do it all on my phone at the same time while I’m watching games or I can do it through them also.”
Argosy, which is owned by Penn Entertainment along with Hollywood Casino, hopes to apply lessons from its sister casino’s sportsbook, so The Sportsbook won’t feel like it’s starting from scratch.
“We understand the hours, the typical habits and the visits that a typical sports-betting customer has,” Myrick said. “We have all that knowledge based from three, 3 1/2 years, operating as the only sportsbook in town.”
With one important difference for Howard, who lives on the Missouri side and loves to bet St. Louis Blues hockey.
“I’m looking forward to it being closer to home, more convenient,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing for me is the convenience. ... I’m looking forward to being able to do that without having to cross state lines, without having to go anywhere else — just pick one of my favorite spots around Kansas City that’s got one and hang out for a little while.”
Missouri voters legalized sports gambling in November 2024 and it goes live statewide at midnight on Monday, Dec. 1.
Ameristar Kansas City announced plans to have Royals Hall of Famer Alex Gordon at the grand opening of its new Fanatics Sportsbook next week.
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