ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals' front office is looking to an unlikely partner to boost the team's competitive edge: Missouri politicians.
Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III says if the state legislature legalizes sports betting, the team could capture another lucrative revenue stream, and in turn, that could assist in their efforts to attract top-tier free agents or re-sign players.
"My job is to drive revenue and manage the business," DeWitt said. "This is a new revenue category. So from that standpoint, it's important. And we've always tried to be very aggressive with our payroll, but obviously keeping in mind what's possible given our revenues."
The Cardinals rank 16th in payroll spending, which is below the league average, according to analysis from Spotrac's MLB Team Payroll Tracker.
"I think we're better than our record would indicate at the moment," DeWitt said on Wednesday afternoon.
The team would lose a lead in the ninth inning and fall to the Angels later that night.
A 2018 study commissioned by the casino industry projected the four major sports leagues could boost combined team revenue by $4.2 billion if sportsbooks drove higher fan engagement at stadiums and brought new licensing or sponsorship opportunities to the franchises.
"It's a new business and it's a new industry, so it remains to be seen to what extent," DeWitt said. "But I think it would definitely increase our revenue streams, no question."
He acknowledged the team had already deployed that argument — that more money could help improve the organization field a more competitive roster — in its efforts to lobby legislators.
"We've tried that one," he said. "We've tried everything in Jeff City."
The Missouri House recently approved the plan to legalize sports betting, but the proposal is currently stuck in the Senate where individual members have more stopping power to slow or derail a bill they don't like.
According to DeWitt, the proposal has broad bipartisan support, but Senator Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg) has jammed up the bill and won't allow it to the floor for a vote.
"Based on our discussions in the Senate, we have one senator standing in the way who can filibuster it, and that's Denny Hoskins," DeWitt said. "That's why this is so frustrating. And it would be one thing if Senator Hoskins was just philosophically opposed to betting. I get that. We'd take our toys and move out. But he is trying to layer on another issue to our winning issue, which is video lottery terminal expansion, slot machine expansion, which already happened in Illinois. And that industry is funding the Missouri effort to attach to our issue. And that's what's so frustrating from my point of view."
Hoskins said the issue is more complex, and describes a myriad of industry forces applying pressure to several other senators.
"Five Senators have approached me and said they will filibuster a sportsbook-only bill," Hoskins said in a text. "Even the casinos don't want SB30 to pass as amended."
If the Cardinals can't clear the logjam in the Senate, DeWitt has indicated the team might organize a petition drive to take the question to voters at the ballot in November of 2024.
"We would have enough time for that if we chose to do it," DeWitt said. "All the options are on the table here. We think it's a winning issue in Missouri."