Sen. David Blount, the Senate Gaming Committee Chairman and supporter of Mississippi online gambling expansion, has told the Clarion Ledger he will only file a bill upon request of the Mississippi Gaming Commission (‘MGC’).
Blount commented: “Of course, any Senate member can file a bill on that topic if he or she wants to, and then we’ll look at it.” He continued: “The House has been outspoken in wanting to expand gaming in the state, so I don’t know what the House may do, but I’ll have to wait and see if there’s a Senate bill or not to consider.”
Jay McDaniel, Executive Director of the MGC, told the Ledger that the commission has no intention of asking lawmakers to file any legislation, leaving Mississippi’s online gaming expansion in the balance.
Previous legalization efforts have fallen short
2024’s expansion efforts were led by Rep. Casey Eure, who filed HB774 in January. The bill looked to establish the Mississippi Mobile Sports Wagering Act, and passed through the House 97-14.
Later, the bill passed through the Senate 36-15-1 but only with an amendment that struck all of the bill’s language and effectively left legislation the same. HB774 ultimately died at the conference committee stage on 29 April 2024.
A series of bills have failed to pass committee from as far back as 2019 – despite Gov. Tate Reeves signing HB606 into law in 2023, establishing a mobile sports betting task force to examine the potential legalization impact. The task force concluded the state “would generate significantly higher tax revenue from the addition of mobile sports betting compared to the current market limited to sportsbook operations at casino facilities.”
Should a bill be motioned in 2025, it will likely have elements similar to last year’s. Key components from the bill that sailed through the House are as follows:
- Allow Mississippi online sports betting anywhere in the State, but only to MS residents;
- Anticipated tax revenue generation for the state of $25,000,000 at an online sports betting tax rate of 12% based on adjusted gross revenue
- Required sports betting platform partnerships with the existing 26 land-based casino locations
Sports betting struggling amidst state-border competition
Mississippi only permits retail sports betting operations at its land-based casino locations. In 2023, the Magnolia State suffered its second consecutive year of declining gaming revenue, dropping 3.5% year-on-year to $2.48 billion. Total commercial gaming revenue peaked in 2021 at $2.67 billion.
The most notable decline was in sports betting revenue, which fell 15.8% to $51.2 million. Notably, 2023 was the first full year in which the retail-specific MS sports betting offering faced a full year of competition from mobile sportsbooks in the bordering state of Louisiana. Furthermore, statewide mobile sports betting is also available in Tennessee and Arkansas, which also border Mississippi.
Mississippi casinos began offering retail sports betting in August 2018. Revenue from sports betting is taxed at the same rate as traditional casino games, plus the federal excise tax on handle of 0.25%.