WILL MISSISSIPPI MOBILE SPORTS BETTING BE LEGALIZED STATEWIDE?

For the past three years, Mississippi sports betting bills seeking to legalize mobile betting statewide have failed. But, it looks like this may change next year in 2022. Now, the House Gaming Committee is working on legislation that would allow for mobile Mississippi sportsbooks across the state. And, the legislation would also look to protect retail casinos.

This legislation would require all Mississippi mobile sportsbook operators to partner with a land-based casino. At this time, there are many partnerships that exist like this in the state already. Major U.S. sports betting operators already have retail sportsbooks in Mississippi.

These sportsbooks include: DraftKings Sportsbook, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, and the FanDuel Sportsbook. Legislators are currently working alongside the retail casino association. They hope to have a bill ready as soon as January 1st of next year.

As of now, the big appeal for Mississippi sportsbooks has really been that they have been legalized. The Mississippi sports betting market has been able to benefit from the fact that the surrounding states had not yet legalized sports betting. But, that changed this year with the launch of retail sportsbooks in neighboring Louisiana.

Now, Mississippi will be missing out on the large feeder market from New Orleans that it had previously held. Plus, in January of next year, in the majority of parishes in Louisiana, Louisiana mobile betting will go live. And, last November in 2020, Tennessee sports betting launched in online-only sportsbooks. So, Mississippi has also seen a loss of that revenue.

The Mississippi sports betting market had been previously booming, taking only thirty one months to reach a $1 billion betting handle.

Mississippi mobile sports betting bills have failed in the state in 2019, 2020, and this year in 2021. Plus, three bills that have been proposed this year have died in committee without seeing any action.

At this time, Mississippi only has limited legal mobile betting. Mobile Mississippi betting is geofenced, limiting it to casino properties only. Many casinos in the state have chosen not to launch on-site mobile operations. However, MGM Resorts does appear to be changing its tune.

MGM Resorts has launched its BetMGM app at two of its casino locations. These are the Tunica’s Gold Strike this past September and the Beau Rivage in Biloxi as of a few days ago. According to the MGM Southeast President and COO, Travis Lunn, the Beau Rivage is now the first Coastal Mississippi casino that has launched mobile betting.

Written by Allie Nelson, our US Sports Betting Industry expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise here.