Mississippi Sports Betting Will Remain Limited to Casinos as Online Bill Fails

Posted on: April 2, 2025, 12:38h. 

Last updated on: April 2, 2025, 10:41h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • Legislation to allow online sports betting in Mississippi is dead for 2025
  • Sports betting is limited to retail casino sportsbooks
  • A motion to ban controversial sweeps websites also failed

Mississippi sports betting remains confined to the state’s 26 commercial casinos and three tribal gaming properties. It will stay that way for the foreseeable future after legislation to allow online bets failed once again in the Jackson capital.

Mississippi sports betting online sportsbook
The BetMGM Sportsbook at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Miss. Mississippi sports betting will remain limited to in-person at casinos after legislation to allow online sports bets failed. (Image: X)

Mississippi legalized in-person sports betting at casinos and riverboats soon after the US Supreme Court overturned the federal ban in May 2018. Just three months later, retail sportsbooks opened inside Mississippi casinos.

Mississippi lawmakers opted to limit sports gambling to the casinos to drive more foot traffic to the resorts, which had experienced a visitation decline and a 2% drop in gross gaming revenue between 2017 and 2018. The thinking worked, as GGR increased by 2.2% in 2018 and 3.5% in 2019.

Some casinos and lawmakers supportive of allowing sportsbooks to take bets over the internet say Mississippi is missing out on an estimated $25 million a year in sports betting taxes. Opponents, mainly smaller casinos, say allowing online bets would negatively impact them because the major sportsbook operators — FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM — would likely partner with the larger casinos along the Gulf.

Sweeps Bill Sports Betting Casualty 

Senate Bill 2510 was filed in early March by state Sen. Joey Fillingane (R-Columbia). The statute was designed to rid Mississippi of unregulated online casino gambling websites masquerading as “sweepstakes” platforms. The bill would have increased the criminal violation for running an unlicensed interactive gaming operation from a misdemeanor to a felony.

The controversial sweeps websites matter is an issue facing much of the country.

SB2510 swiftly passed the Senate with unanimous support. It gained strong support in the House, but Rep. Casey Eure’s (R-Harrison) amendment to include the authorization of online sports betting generated backlash in the upper chamber.

Senate Gaming Committee Chair David Blount (D-Jackson) said his committee wouldn’t consider online sports wagering unless asked by the Mississippi Gaming Commission (MGC), a request that never came. Blount refused to concur with the Eure amendment to SB2510, which prompted the convergence of a special conference committee.

Fillingane and Blount, along with Sen. Mike Thompson (R-Gulfport), convened with Eure and Reps. Jay McKnight (R-Harrison) and Brent Anderson (R-Hancock) to try and hash out their differences. On Monday night, the conference conceded no mutual ground was found and SB2510 was deemed dead.

To link bills together when the topics are not related is not the way the legislature should work,” Blount said of his refusal to add online sports betting to the sweeps ban.

Blount is the vice chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

Win for Sweeps

Blount and Eure’s deadlock was a victory for the sweeps market, which continues to contend in court filings and before lawmakers that its products don’t violate state gambling laws.

The Social & Promotional Games Association (SPGA), the trade group representing the interests of platforms like Chumba Casino, Stake, and LuckyLand Slots, claims social sweepstakes are free-to-play and never require a purchase for a player to win a game.

“Unlike online casino products, social sweepstakes games include a no-purchase-necessary option. Most players participate for free, and the games offer a low-pressure, low-risk entertainment experience — one of the reasons they enjoy such broad consumer appeal,” an SPGA statement to Casino.org read.