A panel of Mississippi legislators approved on Wednesday a bill which would allow mobile sports betting, according to supporters of moving, meet a high demand from consumers and produce millions of new tax revenues.
The president of the game of the house, the representative Casey Eure, R-Saucier, is stingy To adopt legislation after legislators could not agree on a final proposal in 2024. Sports betting have been authorized in the state for years and the casino game for decades. But online bets have remained illegal in the midst of fears that the decision could affect the results of the Casinos of the State – a recognized concern in a committee.
“I would like to start by saying that I am engaged in the British and mortar casinos and this bill requires that all sports betting are attached to the casinos of bricks and mortar,” said Eure.
The house gaming committee has approved a new version of the Mississippi Mobile Sports Pareering ActWho, according to Eure, was reworked to respond to the concerns raised by the Senate last year.
A new provision would allow a casino to associate with two platforms of sports betting rather than one. Allowing casinos to associate with an additional platform is designed to appease the concerns of casino chiefs and legislators who represent areas where the game is a large company.
The bill obliges Paris companies, such as Draftocks or Fanduelles, to contract brick and mortar establishments. The platforms will be broadcast on December 8, 2025.
Last year, some legislators raised concerns that the game platforms would have no incitement to associate with smaller casinos, and most money would take place rather towards the already older casinos of the coast from the Mississippi Gulf.
To protect these small casinos against loss of income, this year’s proposal would create a pot of money for which establishments could draw during the first five years after online sports betting become legal. The 6 million dollars fund, generated by taxes on sports betting, would be reconstituted each year. All unused money would go to finance the repairs of the road and the bridges.
This year’s bill also prevents people from placing betting with credit cards, a request from the Senate to protect themselves against dependence on the game, said Eure. “Nanny State,” whispered committee members at the meeting on Wednesday.
The proposal would take a tax of 12% from sports betting, income reaching 82 counties via the road and emergency bridges compensation fund. Eure said he thought that the state lost between $ 40 million and $ 80 million per year in tax revenue by keeping illegal mobile sports betting.
Supporters also say that legalization would undermine the influence of illicit offshore sports betting platforms. Since the start of the NFL season this year, Mississippi has recorded 8.69 million attempts to access legal mobile sports books, according to a leaflet presented to the members of the Committee. This demand feeds a flourishing market for illegal online game games at Mississippi, supporters said.
Mobile sports betting is legal in 30 states and Washington, DC, according to the American Gaming Association.
The bill is now heading for the house of the full house to be considered.
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This story was initially published by Mississippi today and distributed by a partnership with the Associated Press.