Mississippi Senate committee advances online sports betting proposal with minor revisions

A proposal advancing Mississippi online sports betting has passed its final Senate committee, positioning it for potential advancement to a floor vote.

The Senate Gaming Committee approved Mississippi's sports betting proposal (HB 774) on Tuesday, meeting the deadline for committee votes on bills from the opposite chamber. This version slightly deviates from the one passed by the House in February, potentially necessitating reconciliation if the full Senate approves it.

The Senate has until April 11 to conduct a floor vote on the bill. Following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of PASPA, Mississippi became the third state to introduce sports betting in August 2018.

However, while sports betting apps are accessible at select venues, online wagering remains restricted to on-site locations. Since Mississippi's legalization, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee have also enacted betting laws, all implementing statewide digital platforms.

The Senate committee has incorporated minor regulations for fantasy sports into the bill, primarily addressing conflicts of interest in contests and mandating the use of age verification software. Additionally, the bill imposes limitations on the number of entries per player.

The committee has also introduced provisions to address the proliferation of gray-market electronic gaming machines.

HB 774 was sent to the Senate Gaming Committee by the lower chamber with a single amendment, aligning the tax rate at 12% with the levy on retail sports betting revenue. The proposed legislation would permit 26 licenses, each tied to the state's commercial casinos.

Sports betting revenue in Mississippi shot up 31.4% year-on-year to $6.7 million in January despite a decrease in overall betting activity. In addition to surpassing January 2023's revenue of $5.1 million, January 2024 was also 36.7% up from December 2023's $4.9 million.

However, the Magnolia State registered a 22% decline in handle from $57.2 million in January last year to $44.6 million in the same month this year. Further, the total handle for January was 8.8% less than the $48.9 million in December 2023.

A task force commissioned to study mobile wagering unveiled a report in December that predicted that the total handle could double from a live launch in 2025 through 2029 with 20% annual growth.