Mobile Sports Betting Dead For Now in Mississippi
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Mobile sports betting won’t be coming to Mississippi anytime soon.
Legislators have killed all measures to legalize mobile sports wagering in Mississippi, the state’s top gaming regulator told Gambling.com.
“All mobile sports betting bills that were sponsored this session have died,” said Jay McDaniel, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. “So there won’t be any legislation this year, absent some kind of special session.”
This year’s regular legislative session began at the Capitol in Jackson on Jan. 4 and ends April 3. There has been no indication that a special session will take place regarding sports betting.
On-Site Mobile Wagering Legal in Mississippi
Bettors in Mississippi are allowed to wager in person at sportsbooks inside casinos. There are 26 state-regulated casinos in Mississippi. Of these, 12 are along the Gulf Coast, including eight in the Biloxi area.
Guests at Mississippi hotel-casinos can use a mobile device such as a smartphone to wager on sports, but only if the person placing the bet is somewhere on casino property.
Only two casinos in Mississippi allow on-site mobile sports wagering. Both are MGM Resorts properties, the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi and Gold Strike Resort and Casino in Tunica. Tunica is about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.
McDaniel said he had not received any other requests seeking approval for an on-site mobile sports betting app.
“No on-site mobile is currently under consideration,” he said. “Just the two MGM properties that are already doing it.”
Louisiana Only State Along Coast With Mobile Wagering
With mobile sports betting in Mississippi sidelined, Louisiana remains the only Gulf Coast state, from Texas to Florida, with legal mobile sports wagering.
Texas and Florida are the nation’s second and third-most-populous states and are considered potentially lucrative markets for online bookmakers.
In Florida, the Seminole Tribe’s Hard Rock Sportsbook app was briefly in operation last year but has been discontinued in a legal dispute.
Texas lawmakers won’t be able to vote on sports betting or any issue until the next legislative session in 2023. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said sports betting is inevitable in the Lone Star state.
Mobile Betting a ‘Success’ in Louisiana
Louisiana launched mobile sports betting on Jan. 28. In only four days, bettors wagered $40.5 million.
At a recent state Gaming Control Board meeting, Chairman Ronnie Johns called Louisiana’s mobile wagering launch “a tremendous success.”
Another Mississippi neighbor, Tennessee, launched its mobile sports betting program in November 2020. Tennessee does not have brick-and-mortar casinos or stand-alone sportsbooks.
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