ST. LOUIS — Monday was the first day of legalized sports betting in Missouri, but other than advertising on the video board at the St. Louis Blues game, you wouldn’t have noticed a difference at Enterprise Center.
The Blues are capitalizing on an additional revenue stream, but with betting primarily taking place on smartphones, their goal is to keep the game experience as traditional as possible for non-bettors.
In 2024, Missouri became the 39th state to legalize sports betting with Amendment 2, which passed by fewer than 3,000 votes in the general election.
“You are now able to do what all the surrounding states around Missouri have been doing for quite a while, to be able to wager on sports game if you choose to do so,” said Steve Chapman, the Blues’ executive vice president and chief revenue and marketing officer. “There’s always different sides of it. There’s some people who choose not to gamble on sports and not to gamble at all.
“That’s fine, but for the people who have the want and ability to do so, they’re very excited because, quite candidly, it’s probably something that’s been going on under the radar for decades, if not longer. Now it’s above board. It’s legalized. And I think fans will enjoy the opportunity to take advantage of that.”
The Blues have announced sponsorship deals with two sports betting companies in recent months: Underdog and DraftKings, who will be the official partners of the organization. The team expects to form a couple more partnerships, but nothing else has been announced.
Today, DraftKings was named an Official Sports Betting and Daily Fantasy Operator of the St. Louis Blues — ahead of the launch of legal sports betting in Missouri on December 1, 2025.
🔗More here: https://t.co/P039nIU2mA pic.twitter.com/coLPOXMASV
— DraftKings News (@DraftKingsNews) November 20, 2025
What will all of this look like in action? Will there be sports betting lounges at Enterprise Center? What kind of financial impact will it have on the Blues? Will it help grow the fanbase by increasing interest in team and individual performance?
The Athletic spoke with Chapman about the Blues’ perspective on sports betting.
What does it mean for fans?
Just like they can from their homes, Blues fans can now place legal bets with a sports betting app of their choice as they find their seats at Enterprise Center.
“A lot of fans are generally interested in who’s favored tonight? What are they favored by?” Chapman said. “There’s the social engagement part of engaging with our fans that are interested in this sort of thing. How many years of fantasy football are we into now? Like it or not, that’s a form of sports wagering, whether you’re playing for fun or everybody throws in $20 into a pot and someone wins. It’s the same idea.
“It just engages fans and makes them more interested in the product itself, and that’s what we’re working toward.”
Will will it mean for arena experience?
As mentioned, sports bettors commonly place their bets on their phones, so the Blues feel there’s no need for a betting lounge at Enterprise Center.
“You don’t need to walk up to a window to place a bet; you pull your phone out,” Chapman said. “We have a bunch of really cool spaces in our building, like the Bud Light Sports Pub, that you can go and hang out and watch different games on TV before the game or during intermission. But there’s really no reason to build something out as a sportsbook because your sportsbook is in your hand.”
What will it mean for the TV broadcast?
Blues games are televised on FanDuel Sports Network, but that’s a different entity than the FanDuel sports betting company. So while there will be FanDuel odds and wagers featured on the screen during the broadcast, there won’t be any in-game advertising from other companies.
“We’re partners with FanDuel Sports Network in how we want to present the game, and everybody has a similar mindset that we don’t want this to become all about gambling and we don’t want people to be turned off,” Chapman said. “If you want to go buy a soda, well, Pepsi is our sponsor — we hope you go buy a Pepsi. Do you want an ice-cold beer? Well, we hope you go buy a Bud Light to support the Blues. If you’re going to gamble on sports with the Blues, hey, we hope you go to Underdog or DraftKings.
“Could I see an alternative broadcast in the future that was focused on gambling? I could see that happening. I could see a number of different things that happen in the future.”
What does it mean financially for Blues?
Under the agreements with Underdog and DraftKings, the Blues will permit the sports betting companies to use their logos and trademarks, and they’ll also be granted access to email data for ticket holders. The revenue received will make up approximately 5 percent of the team’s total sponsorship revenue.
“We are trying to drive revenue so that we can continue to spend to the salary cap, continue to try to win a Stanley Cup, and it’s very important for a market like ours,” Chapman said. “I don’t know if we’re a small- or mid-market team, but I know that we’re competing with some major markets who have the ability to generate more revenue because of their market size.
“So it’s important to the Blues, and when I say the Blues, I mean our organization, our fans, our season-ticket holders, our sponsors. We want to win, and so we have to drive revenue to be able to feed the beast to do that. It’s not naming rights (level revenue), but it’s significant, and it’s going to not only help us — it’s going to help a lot of teams that are fortunate enough to be in states that they have this freedom.”
Will it grow the fanbase?
There’s a chance that bettors having a monetary interest in the Blues could develop a liking for the team or for certain players. Could that eventually bring them to more games? Buy more merchandise?
“I tell a buddy of mine, if you want to make San Diego State-Hawaii in college football interesting, put $20 on it,” Chapman said. “I mentioned fantasy football. That’s brought more people into the NFL who had zero interest in the NFL. It’s the long-term cumulative effect.
“Why do we spend so much time trying to get young people on the ice learning to skate? We do it because we want to grow the game and make more people interested. We believe once we get you engaged in our sport, you’re going to stay. The game is so good that it’s just going to attract you and keep you involved.”