Mississippi Sports Betting Surges As Casino Play Falls

Looking back at Mississippi’s gaming numbers, the figures we are about to present showed opposites in the state — December saw a drop in sports betting, but a rise in casino play.

Now, in January, we saw that flipped.

Across the 26 commercial casinos in the state that allow sports betting, the handle rose 17% in January, racking up $66,523,295 compared to December’s $56,839,743.

What’s even more eye-popping, however, is that even though there was a 17% handle increase, Mississippi sports betting saw a massive increase in revenue, seeing a 101.4% rise from December to January. January brought in $6,521,389 whereas December brought in $3,238,730.

Mississippi Sports Betting, January vs. December

Mississippi Gaming Figures Fall

Mississippi reports two figures for casino play: slots and table games.

For slots, Mississippi saw a 7.8% decrease, going from $2.317 billion in December to $2.137 billion in January.

Table games didn’t see quite the same fall, but it did decrease, going from $175 million in December to 4170.35 million in January, a 2.7% difference.

Mississippi Still Waiting for Online Betting Expansion

Similar to last month, the state of Mississippi still waits for online sports betting to arrive in the state.

In February 2022, the state did see Fubo Gaming granted market access, so that will provide another avenue of sports betting when mobile wagering is allowed.

However, at the beginning of 2022, a Mississippi lawmaker did introduce a new bill — House Bill 184 — to allow sports bettors to place bets from their smartphones, but as of Feb. 1, the bill is marked as “Failed” and that is “Died In Committee.”

In December, Gambling.com interviewed Jay McDaniel, the executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. In that interview, McDaniel urged those in Mississippi to reach out to their lawmakers.

“To those in Mississippi who wish to have it, I would say contact your state senator or representative and let them know your thoughts.”