Mississippi Fumbles Ball on Mobile Sports Betting For 2024

The hopes of a widespread Mississippi mobile sports betting platform launch in 2024 were dashed this week after legislators in the state fumbled the ball on meeting a Monday deadline to find common ground among conference committee members. Residents must wait longer to take advantage of our best sports betting apps.

A conference committee report on the viability of expansion plans was due Monday, the deadline for such opinions on the matter. Disagreement among lawmakers has threatened the process all along, but optimism remained that legislators could come to an agreement and bring Mississippi sports betting sites to fruition this year—until Monday’s developments or lack thereof. 

With the Mississippi current legislative session coming to an end Sunday, the chances of expanding Mississippi's already robust retail sports betting platform through House Bill 774, which would include Mississippi mobile apps is all but dead.

What House Bill 774 proposed

House Bill 774 would have dramatically expanded legal sports betting offerings for Mississippi residents. Up to 30 mobile sports betting licenses would have been up for grabs, including for each of the Magnolia State's 26 retail casinos.

The Bill proposed a 12% tax rate, which was expected to generate around $35 million annually for the state to fund repairs for roads and bridges.

In February, it passed in the House of Representatives by a 97-14 vote before being sent to the Senate, where all language surrounding mobile sports sites was controversially stripped from the proposal. 

At the time, Sen. David Blount, chairman of the gaming committee, said, “The amendment that came out of committee makes no changes to the current law. It does not express a Senate position one way or another, but it does express our position to continue to discuss this and hear from people across the state on this issue.” 

The Senate's position forced the creation of a conference committee designed to create the discussion that Blount and others had hoped to generate in order to find some compromise on the issue.

That discussion unfortunately did not develop into anything serious, and the idea ultimately and unexpectedly hit a brick wall in the conference committee.

So...

Sports betting will continue in the Magnolia State, but it will have to be done at a brick-and-mortar facility or on the grounds of a state casino. In 2024, you won't be able to bet from the comfort of your home in Mississippi.

The door to a legal sports betting platform for Mississippi isn't entirely closed. The sports betting task force that was formed in the state will continue to do its work and promote its detailed research on the merits of such a platform.

Lawmakers, as has the public, have shown interest in expanding the Mississippi legal sports betting footprint. GeoComply Solutions Inc. data showed 1.7 million attempts during two months over the past football season by Mississippi residents to access mobile sportsbooks in neighboring states.

In the meantime, illegal offshore sites will continue to benefit from the state's lack of a homegrown legal mobile sports betting platform. As Rep. Casey Eure pointed out, “Mississippi is No. 1 for illegal online sports betting in the country.”  And it will continue to be for the foreseeable future.