Mississippi Senate Holds Online Sports Betting Fate in Hands

• The Mississippi House Gaming Committee kept online sports betting hopes alive with a procedural move last week
• The gaming committee inserted the House’s approved online sports betting legislation into two Senate bills that prohibit sweepstakes gaming
• The Senate Gaming Committee has not shown an appetite to take up the online sports betting bill

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A procedural move by the House Gaming Committee has kept the Mississippi online sports betting bill alive ahead of the April 6 sine die deadline, but its overall chances may be on life support.

The House Gaming Committee last week inserted the language of the house approved sports betting bill, HB 1302, into a pair of Senate bills that prohibit online sweepstakes gaming to keep the legislation alive this session.

The procedural move kept the bill alive, but the Senate Gaming Committee has shown no desire to take up online sports betting this year.

Senate Blocking Online Sports Betting

According to the Sun Herald, Mississippi Senate Gaming Committee Chairman David Blount (D-29) does not support online sports betting and will not bring the measure to committee for a vote.

The House Gaming Committee inserted the approved online sports betting bill language to SB 2381 and SB 2510 to continue the conversation prior to the final day of the session on April 6.

However, without Senate support Mississippi’s chances to legalize online sports betting will fail as they did in 2024.

According to the Sun Herald, Rep. Casey Eure (R-116), the author of HB 1302, has expressed frustration at the Senate for not taking up the House approved online sports betting bill, despite making a number of changes in the bill the Senate asked for after last year’s defeat.

“This shows how serious we are about mobile sports betting,” Eure said, according to the Sun Herald. “I’ve done everything he’s asked for … I’ve done everything they’ve asked for plus some.”

Eure made significant changes to his 2025 bill to appease both Senate and Mississippi retail casino concerns.

His bill earmarks $6 million annually to a new Retail Sports Wagering Protection Fund. The fund will allow casinos who choose to not partner with an online sports betting operators to apply for a portion of revenue from the fund. The Retail Sports Wagering Protection Fund will receive $6 million annually through 2030.

Any additional revenue over the $6 million threshold will be placed in the state’s road and bridge repair fund.

His 2025 bill also increased the number of potential online sports betting partners for the state’s 26 commercial dockside and land-based casinos from one to two.

Launch No Later Than Dec. 8, 2025

The bill sets a universal launch date of no later than Dec. 8, 2025.

The bill includes a tiered tax system for adjusted sports betting revenue as follows:

• 4% of gross revenue not surpassing $50,000 per month
• 6% of gross revenue that surpasses $50,000, but does not surpass $134,000 per month
• 8% of gross revenue that surpasses $134,000 per month

Each operator will also have to pay an additional 4% in gross revenue into the road and bridge repair fund. Operators would have to pay a maximum of 12% in adjusted gross revenue to the state depending on their revenue each month.