Mississippians age 21 and up remain without the ability to legally place wagers on sporting events from mobile devices.
For the third straight year, efforts by the House of Representatives to bring legal online sports betting to the Magnolia State did not bear fruit. A fundamental difference in opinion by gaming committee leaders in the House and Senate was on display once again this legislative session.
While House Gaming Committee Chair Casey Eure, R-Saucier, was confident that discussions with cross-chamber counterparts ahead of the current session resulted in the necessary concessions being offered to satisfy demands levied by Senate Gaming Committee Chair David Blount, D-Jackson, those thoughts proved futile.
Early in the session, the House overwhelmingly passed HB 1302, or the Mississippi Mobile Sports Wagering Act, with bipartisan support. The legislation, in addition to legalizing mobile sports betting, required gaming platforms like DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and others to partner with a Mississippi casino before opening a digital platform to wage bets, ensuring brick-and-mortar casinos were not left without a piece of the revenue pie.
Revenue generated by mobile sports betting was slated to be taxed at 12%, with the lion’s share of the proceeds going to road and bridge repairs in all 82 Mississippi counties.
In early March, the Senate Gaming Committee neglected to pick up HB 1302, allowing the legislation to be killed on a legislative deadline. To keep the spirit of the bill alive, the House Gaming Committee gutted Senate Bills 2381 and 2510 and inserted the exact language of its original bill into both pieces of legislation.
SB 2381 died on the calendar a few weeks after it was modified. However, lawmakers took the amended version of SB 2510 to conference, where it ultimately was axed. To this day, the Senate has not held a floor vote on a bill legalizing mobile sports betting.
“The reason we have gaming in Mississippi is to encourage investment, to create jobs, and to grow tourism to bring other people from other places to Mississippi. Mobile sports betting doesn’t do that,” Blount said earlier in the session. “Mobile sports betting is in
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