Underdog has announced a partnership with the Kansas City Royals to enter Missouri’s sports betting market.
The multi-year partnership provides Underdog with market access in Missouri, where regulated sports betting is scheduled to launch on December 1, as well as marketing opportunities with the MLB team.
Market access in Missouri is subject to licensure by the Missouri Gaming Commission, where Underdog’s license application is currently under review.
“The Royals have forged a deep and authentic connection with baseball fans throughout the Kansas City region, in Missouri and beyond,” said Stacie Stern, senior vice president of government affairs and partnerships at Underdog.
“We’ve built our products with the same approach – real, organic connection with sports fans to get to one goal: make sports more fun. We are going to work with the Royals to bring the best sports betting experience possible to fans in Missouri, while we continue to drive innovation in sports gaming and expand our product offerings in new states.”
Missouri’s electorate voted in late-2024 to legalise and regulate sports betting, with the new market set to launch on December 1 of this year.
Each of the state’s 13 casinos are eligible for a license, as are Missouri’s six professional sports teams, alongside two untethered online betting licences that have been awarded to Circa and DraftKings.
Missouri’s other market access partnerships include a tie up between FanDuel and St. Louis CITY SC, and Fanatics’ partnership with Boyd Gaming.
“The Royals look forward to continuing and enhancing our partnership with Underdog, which is our longest-standing relationship in sports gaming,” said Brooks Sherman, Royals president of business operations.
“We’ve partnered with them on some of our most engaging fan programs, like Bark at the Park and the Underdog Hot Dog Derby, and we look forward to working with Underdog to provide Royals fans throughout Missouri the opportunity to have even more fun while watching sports.”