First full season of legalized sports betting underway at Century Casino Cape Girardeau

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (Heartland News) - We are in week three of Missouri’s first full NFL season with legal sports betting.

Voters approved sports betting in November of 2024, and mobile and retail wagering launched in December of last year. According to a Gallup poll conducted this month, football is Americans’ favorite sport to watch, beating out the runner-up, basketball, by a comfortable 20% lead.

Century Casino & Hotel marketing director Dave Hart says the anticipation of football season has been felt by many.

“Well, we have a great atmosphere and a great space all year long, but this will be our first full year of the NFL season since it didn’t get legalized until December 1 of last year, so we’re really excited to see what happens,” Hart said. “Sundays have been really great with the NFL starting up. The whole weekend is great with football, but obviously the NFL, you know, that fires up a different crowd, and we’ve definitely seen a lift with everything going on around here.”

Hart also mentions a few new additions to the sports betting area, which include new seating, slot machines and fo...