Mississippi's Online Sports Betting, Anti-Sweepstakes Bill Dead
This year's project to legalize statewide online sports wagering in Mississippi looks dead, and dragged down in addition to it is an effort to ban sweepstakes casinos in the Magnolia State via legislation.
Monday was the deadline for conference committee reports on basic bills and constitutional modifications to be submitted in Jackson.
This included a report for S.B. 2510, which was an anti-online gaming expense (sweepstakes included) when it passed the Senate 51-0 in February.
However, that was before the Mississippi Legislature made some tweaks to the costs in March, including by shoehorning statewide online sports betting into the legislation.
The modifications were turned down by the Senate and triggered the production of a conference committee last week.
It appears legislators on the conference committee were ultimately not able to reach a compromise on S.B. 2510 and submit a report, since the state stated Monday night that the measure was dead.
See you in 2026
As a result, it looks like both a sweepstakes casino restriction and statewide online sports wagering in Mississippi by means of legislation might need to wait up until next year.
Yet another stopped working effort to legalize statewide online sports wagering in Mississippi highlights the sticking around issues that legislators in the Senate have about authorizing any kind of online betting that might possibly cannibalize business of the state's brick-and-mortar casinos.
Those concerns apparently surpassed the hazard postured by sweepstakes gambling establishments that have spread throughout the U.S., setting off action by legislators and regulators looking for to rein in the newer type of online gambling.
Looks like Mississippi's last, best opportunity at legislating statewide online sports wagering this year is dead, in addition to the proposed ban on sweepstakes gambling establishments to which House legislators attempted to attach OSB: pic.twitter.com/DWLgRJxxew
Mississippi might still take action against sweeps operators as regulators in other states have done, such as by issuing cease-and-desist letters. But a particular, statutory ban and criminal penalties for breaching that restriction appears like they are off the table for now. The Mississippi legislature is arranged to adjourn on April 6.