Mississippi Online Sports Betting House Bill Gaining Momentum

formulanone from Huntsville, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0
Key Takeaways
- Online sportsbooks would need to partner with a retail casino
- Retail sports betting is currently allowed at limited locations
- Tax revenue would primarily fund the repair of railroads and roads
The Magnolia State’s sports betting market may be set to expand this year.
House Bill 1302 passed the House Gaming Committee this week. The bill, which has been nicknamed the Mississippi Mobile Sports Wagering Act, would allow online sportsbooks to partner with a retail casino. Each casino can offer up to two skins, giving the potential for a large and crowded market.
Mississippi bettors can currently wager on sports but must visit a brick-and-mortar sportsbook.
Casino Competition Key Factor for Lawmakers
One of the most prominent roadblocks remaining in the path of HB1302 is its impact on the retail casino market. While each casino can partner with an online sportsbook, many believe industry leaders FanDuel and DraftKings will partner with two of the largest. This would be a massive blow to smaller casinos, permanently damaging the industry.
While many sportsbooks produce impressive numbers, DraftKings and FanDuel own most of the US market share. Their dominance has hurt the sports betting industry, and some Mississippi lawmakers fear it will do the same to casinos.
HB1302 addresses this concern by creating a fund to compensate casinos without an online sports betting partner. Time will tell if it's enough to soothe the worries of opponents.
Funds Would Go Toward Improving Infrastructure
Unlike many other states, Mississippi would contribute revenue from its 12% tax rate on operators to the Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Fund. The state is one of the poorest in the US, and infrastructure issues, such as bridges and roads, continue to rise. Online sports betting would generate enough revenue to help address the situation far more quickly.
Some opponents of HB1302 believe those funds should be used to support Mississippi’s school systems. The state’s education system ranked in the bottom three in the country, but the money generated from online sports betting could help change that.
Focus on Problem Gambling
When forming the bill, lawmakers studied the driving factor behind the growth of problem gambling in other markets. The bill would ban credit cards and require operators to track player data and identify potential cases of problem gambling.
While addiction is a concern across the US, many Republican lawmakers don’t believe it’s the government's place to address it. They support funding programs to assist with the problem but firmly believe that the government should not tell residents how to spend their money.
Michael is a writer from Denver who covers the sports betting industry for Casino.com. He has been covering the industry for over four years, focusing on providing accurate and easy-to-understand information for readers. When he’s not covering the industry, he’s betting on sports or exploring everything that Colorado has to offer.
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