The Mississippi House of Representatives has gambled once again on a bill that would legalize mobile sports betting statewide.
Officials in the chamber voted 82-10 to pass House Bill 1302, familiarly dubbed the “Mississippi Sports Wagering Act,” on Monday. The legislation, according to author Rep. Casey Eure, R-Saucier, is reminiscent of the one passed by the House last year which was ultimately railroaded by the Senate, but with a few modifications.
If the bill is passed, people aged 21 and up would be allowed to legally bet on regulated athletic events from mobile devices — as can currently be done in casinos across the state. Mobile sports betting has been happening in Mississippi for years now, as reported by Mississippi Gaming Commission executive director Jay McDaniel. However, it has not been conducted legally and the state has not reaped any tax benefits.
According to Eure, Mississippi leads the nation in illegal online sports betting searches via Google and is one of 19 states that has not legalized online wagering outside of a brick-and-mortar gaming facility. Neighboring states, like Louisiana and Tennessee, secured a large sum of tax revenue from mobile sports betting last year. Tennessee generated nearly $100 million while Louisiana hauled in $64 million. Mississippi, on the other hand, acquired nothing.
“That just goes to show you that we’re losing a lot of tax revenue to these [illegal] online sports betting [platforms],” Eure said on the House floor Monday afternoon. “Once you pass and legalize mobile sports betting, the illegal sites are basically gone. Everybody goes to a brick-and-mortar casino and they start doing it the proper way.”
Revenue generated by mobile sports betting would be taxed at 12% with the lion’s share of the proceeds going to road and bridge repairs in all 82 Mississippi counties, per the text.
Last year, the Mobile Sports Wagering Act permitted casinos to partner with one online sports betting platform, such as DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM. This year, the legislation allows Mississippi casinos to link with up to two platforms. The goal is to protect existing casinos from hemorrhaging financially by allowing the casino to link its rewards program to the mobile sports betting platform and entice foot traffic through various incentives.
“I am committed to, and this bill is still committed to, our brick-and-mortar casinos,” Eure said. “All mobile sports betting will be tethered to a brick-and-mortar casino in the state of Mississippi.”
The platforms would be responsible for implementing a proper geofencing structure to ensure bets connected to a Mississippi casino are not being made outside the Magnolia State. Users would also have to supply proper age verification and identification to the platform to prevent illegal gambling.
A stark difference in the latest bill compared to the 2024 version is that it would prohibit online sports bets subsidized by a credit card to avoid enabling a user’s possible gambling addiction. Debit cards, Venmo, etc. would be acceptable payment methods, though.
One worry among lawmakers is that legalizing mobile sports betting could result in unintended consequences. Aside from the fear that it would lead to fewer in-person visits to casinos, another dread is that some gaming facilities would be left in the dust while others prosper, costing jobs and revenue.
House Minority Leader Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez, espoused troubles with the fact that no provision in the bill would require platforms to exist in all of the state’s casinos. His concern hinged on the fact that a smaller casino, or one in an area not known to attract swaths of tourists looking to gamble, could be left behind.
Provisions were added to the bill to make losing casinos whole in the event that mobile sports betting causes one without a partner platform to incur a financial deficit. For the first five years of the bill’s implementation, the first $6 million collected in revenue would be diverted to the “Retail Sports Wagering Protection” fund. If a casino loses money due to mobile sports betting being legalized, that casino would be eligible to draw down from the emergency fund to make up for damages.
If any money remains in the fund once funds are divvied out to negatively impacted gaming establishments, it will all go to road and bridge repairs.
“The reason we picked $6 million is because that’s all the state is bringing in from sports betting in the brick-and-mortar casinos now,” Eure continued. “If that $6 million is not used, it goes straight to roads and bridges every year. It doesn’t build up over the five years.”
House Bill 1302 now heads to the Senate, where recent history would indicate it is not initially expected to receive a ringing endorsement.
“The reason we have gaming in the state is for tourism, to bring new people to the state, to encourage investment in the form of hotels and amenities to grow the economy, and to support the jobs of the tens of thousands of people,” Senate Gaming Committee chairman David Blount, D-Jackson, said in mid-January. “All of that’s a good thing. I don’t want to endanger that. Mobile sports betting doesn’t do any of that. Mobile sports betting does not drive tourism. It does not drive any economic investment in our state.”
