Will online sports betting come to Mississippi in 2025? One key lawmaker still on the fence

Posted by Admin January 2, 2025 Sports

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See highlights from 2024 legislation on online sports betting

Editor’s note: This is the sixth entry in an eight-part series previewing some of the most impactful legislation coming to the 2025 Mississippi Legislative Session.

Whether the Mississippi Legislature passes a bill to establish online sports betting anywhere in the magnolia state in 2025 is still up in the air.

At the same time, one of the key players in that process won’t have an official opinion on the matter until they see an online sports betting bill filed.

Below is what you need to know.

Senate Gaming Committee chairman unsure about sports betting bill in 2025

Senate Gaming Committee Chairman Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, told the Clarion Ledger in December he has no plan to file an online sports betting bill in the 2025 Session unless the Mississippi Gaming Commission asks him to.

“Of course, any Senate member can file a bill on that topic if he or she wants to and then we’ll look at it,” Blount said. “The House has been outspoken in wanting to expand gaming in the state, so I don’t know what the House may do, but I’ll have to wait and see if there’s a Senate bill or not to consider.”

Mississippi Gaming Commission Executive Director Jay McDaniel said the commission has no intention of asking lawmakers to file such a bill or any other piece of legislation. The commission does not normally recommend bills, he said.

“I don’t believe the commission would take a position on supporting it,” McDaniel said. “We would rely on whether it be the Senate committee or the House Gaming Committee to introduce a measure like that … Obviously, we want the bill to be crafted in a way that works best for the state.”

How does sports betting in Mississippi work?

In Mississippi, casinos can be located along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast. Casino operators also need to obtain a gaming license from the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

Online sports betting is also already technically legal, but players must be located on casino grounds to participate.

2024 online sports betting bill highlights

The online sports betting bill passed the Mississippi House early in the 2024 Session. It then lingered until its eventual death in a conference committee.

A conference committee is a group of both Senate and House lawmakers negotiating on a bill passed by one chamber and then amended by the other. If they reach an agreement, the bill is then sent back for final consideration in both chambers.

Below are some of the highlights from the bill that passed the House:

Allow only for online sports betting anywhere in the state but not for anyone outside of Mississippi.
Any sports betting platform would have to partner with an actual brick-and-mortar casino.
In theory, the bill would have provided an additional $25 million per year in tax revenue that would have gone to roads, highways, bridges and other infrastructure.

“(The 2024 bill) could work because the operators already do it on premises,” McDaniel said of the 2024 bill. “It just pushed it out to a mobile device. … I do believe it was from an operational standpoint, a bill that would have worked fine in our state.”

The bill originally passed the House 97-14 and then passed through the Senate with an amendment that struck all of the bill’s language and effect. It then died a few weeks later in conference committee.

At the time, Blount said it died over concerns that the bill could have negatively impacted foot traffic in casinos. He also thought the House’s bill allowed for more than just online sports betting like online poker, slot machines and other games.

“I think if we narrow the scope to sports betting, and we deal with some consumer protections, provisions that were not addressed in the bill, that we can work on a bill again (in 2025),” Blount said in May.

Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.