Online Mississippi Sports Betting Clears Big Hurdle
Senate Gaming Committee Passes House Bill
Sports bettors in Mississippi may soon have access to an online sportsbook after the Senate Gaming Committee passed HB744 on Tuesday. The deadline for committees to vote on bills passed by the other Legislative chamber was also Tuesday.
The bill received minor changes in the committee, which means if it passed by the full Senate, the House would have to agree with the changes and revote. The House passed the original bill by an overwhelming 97-14 margin in February. The bill will bring true online wagering to Mississippi sports betting.
Currently, Mississippi sports betting allows people to bet on sports at retail establishments. They can place bets through apps, but they have to be located inside the casino property. That basically defeats the whole purpose of sports betting apps from the bettor’s perspective.
States that offer mobile sports betting have seen upwards of 95% of wagers placed online. It’s simply more accessible and more convenient to follow expert picks when you’re wagering on your phone or computer from home.
Some Casinos Opposed to Bill
The casino industry is mixed on the proposal. Most of the opposition is coming from smaller casinos. Their contention is that online sports betting will keep people from coming to the casino. From that perspective, Senate Gaming Committee Chairman David Blount introduced SB2780 in February.
That bill will prevent the state from leasing certain property for gambling activities. In theory, that will keep out new casinos from opening in Biloxi, Bay St. Louis and Gulfport. Blount’s bill passed out of the House Gaming Committee and the hope is a compromise can be reached by using the two bills.
Preventing additional competition among casinos in the state is beneficial to the 26 casinos currently operating. Blount is trying to find a way to make all sides happy.
“I’m told there are people who have been on opposite sides of this issue in the past that are talking and, as far as I know, working in good faith to try to come up with a proposal to share with us,” Blount said in the committee hearing. “I haven’t been involved in looking at that, but if people are talking that’s a good thing and we want to continue to let them do that. We want to move the bill along.”
What’s Next?
The bill had been collecting dust in the Senate the past two months after its passage by the House, but now things have to move quickly. The full Senate has to pass the House Bill no later than April 11, which is the deadline for House Bills to pass in the Senate. Likewise, Blount’s bill will need to pass the House by the same date.
The two bills would then go to committees, which is where the final details will try to be ironed out. It’s not going to be easy to appease everybody, but Blount believes Mississippi sports betting could soon be online.
“There are a lot of issues that we need to consider from the perspective of the industry and the perspective of the consumer that we will do if we get to the point where we might be able to get something done this year,” he said. “But in the meantime, we certainly don’t want to stop people from listening to each other and working.”
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