Missouri Considering Legalization Of Online Lottery Ticket Sales And Lotto Couriers

Missouri has emerged as an potential candidate to legalize digital lottery ticket sales after the Senate included a provision that would allow the bulk purchase of tickets online in its proposed $49.5 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2026.

The Missouri Independent noted the provision in the budget that passed in the Senate last week has set off frenetic activity among lobbyists in the upper chamber, which has a constitutional deadline of 6 p.m. local time Friday to submit a budget to Gov. Mike Kehoe. Multiple committees are examining 13 spending bills submitted by the House as they try to narrow a $1.6 billion gap on total spending.

Specific to the lottery, the text in the Senate budget calls for a three-year pilot program “allowing the digital delivery of lottery tickets by lottery couriers through a brick and mortar licensed retailer to adults physically present in Missouri at the time of order.”

Missouri is also trying to legalize video lottery terminals (VLTs) this year. The push to legalize VLTs has resulted in the rare combination of lobbyists supporting casinos and VLTs forming an alliance against those lobbying on behalf of the lotto couriers.

The other key point in the provision

The language of the provision would also exempt the couriers from the rules barring retailers from altering the price of tickets. Courier services add a surcharge to the cost of tickets — sometimes as much as 25% — which is usually higher than commissions that licensed retail lottery retailers can retain. According to the Missouri Lottery official website, retailers are paid 5% commission on ticket sales and 2% for tickets cashed up to $600.

“It doesn’t say that our Missouri Lottery has to utilize this,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough told the Missouri Independent. “It just kind of opens it up for them to use it if they wanted to.”

The push to legalize VLTs, however, could prove a formidable obstacle. A series of late changes helped push that through the House by an 83-73 vote — one more than the minimum needed to pass. The fiscal note attached to the House bill projected $1.1 billion in revenue for state schools in the first three years.

Additionally, there are three VLT-related bills waiting to be heard in the upper chamber compared to only the late-added provision for online lottery ticket sales in the Senate budget.