By BBBB
The Mississippi Senate Gaming Committee has given its approval to a bill that will allow mobile sports betting in the state.
House Bill 774, sponsored by Rep. Casey Eure, was passed by the committee on Tuesday as lawmakers seek to expand the current gaming laws which only allow for sports betting in person or through a mobile device at a physical retail sportsbook.
The bill had previously been approved in the House by a vote of 97-14 in February following several amendments. The Senate now has until April 11th to pass the legislation fully.
Speaking in Tuesday’s committee meeting Sen. David Blount said:
“If people are talking, it’s a good thing. We want to continue to let them do that. We want to continue to move the bill along. There are a lot of issues that we need to consider from the perspective of the industry and also from 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.”
The bill would allow for each of the state’s 26 casinos to partner with a sportsbook operator for online sports betting in Mississippi. The tax rate for mobile wagering would be set at 12% and estimates suggest that the mobile industry could be worth as much as $35 million a year in taxes for the state.
At present, the state has more that 20 casinos that run in-person sportsbooks or allow mobile wagering in-house. In 2023, sportsbooks took in over 474.2 million in wagers generating $51.2 million in revenues. This resulted in the state collecting $6.1 million in taxes. This was a drop of 15.2% on the previous year.
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