A bill to legalize online sports betting in Mississippi heads to the full House floor for consideration after a panel of lawmakers in the Legislature approved it Wednesday. The proposal would authorize statewide mobile sports wagering, a move backers argue would bring protections to consumers currently engaging with black market platforms and produce millions in additional tax revenue.
Rep. Casey Eure, R-Saucier, House Gaming Chairman, spearheads the effort, trying to pass online betting legislation again after lawmakers failed to agree on a final proposal in last year’s legislative session. The move seeks to bring Mississippi in line with the 30 states — and Washington, D.C. — that have already legalized online wagering.
While casino gambling and retail sports betting have been permitted in Mississippi for years, lawmakers have struggled to pass online wagering legislation. Previous efforts stalled amid fears that legalization would cannibalize land-based revenue, a concern lawmakers are addressing by tethering all betting to brick-and-mortar facilities.
According to Eure, the new version of the Mississippi Mobile Sports Wagering Act has been reworked to address all major concerns raised in the Senate last year. The new plan has been approved by the House Gaming Committee and seeks to protect the interests of the retail industry by requiring betting companies to contract with brick-and-mortar gambling establishments.
Under the revised plan, casinos would be allowed to partner with two sports betting platforms, up from just one in its previous iteration. Allowing them to partner with an additional platform is designed to assuage the concerns of casino leaders and lawmakers who represent areas where gambling is big business, said Eure.
Another concern raised in 2024’s legislative session was that gambling platforms would have no incentive to partner with smaller casinos, thus making money flow to the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s facilities — the largest in the state. To protect those smaller venues from revenue losses, this year’s plan creates a pot of money system.
Under the provision, smaller establishments would be able to draw money from the pot for the first five years after online betting becomes legal. The fund would amount to $6 million, generated from taxes on sports betting, and would be replenished each year, with any unused money redirected to fund road and bridge repairs.
To address concerns raised in the Senate over gambling addiction, this year’s bill also prevents people from gambling with credit cards. The bill would also levy a 12% tax on wagers, with revenue reaching all 82 counties via the Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Fund. If approved, the platforms would go live on Dec. 8, 2025.
Since the start of the NFL season this year, Mississippi has recorded 8.69 million attempts to access mobile sportsbooks. According to Eure, the state is losing between $40 million and $80 million a year in tax revenue by keeping online betting illegal.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2025/01/31/93653-mississippi-online-sports-betting-bill-heads-to-full-house-floor-for-consideration
