Casinos have been present for a long time in the state of Mississippi with the three main areas allowing gambling being Biloxi, Philadelphia, and Tunica. However, Mississippi was also one of the first states two allow sports betting. This article will examine the gambling history in Mississippi as well as what betting options are available within the state. We’ll begin by taking a quick glance at betting, places to bet, and teams at a glance before diving into each area. Let’s begin by taking a quick glance at the status of betting.
Status of Betting at a glance: Mississippi has always been one of the more relaxed states in the South when it comes to gambling. This began with the presence of Indian casinos throughout the state; when the state noticed how much revenue it was generating, they decided to make a push to make it legal in Mississippi. Since then racetracks, DFS, sports betting and most recently, the state lottery passed.
Where to bet at a glance: There are multiple casinos in the state of Mississippi but these are the top 10 casinos in the state of Mississippi ranking from 1st to 10th are as follows: New Palace Casino Point Cadet in Biloxi, Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi, Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Island View Casino in Gulfport, Gold Strike Casino in Tunica, Hard Rock Casino & Hotel in Biloxi, IP Casino Resort in Biloxi, Golden Nugget Casino in Biloxi, Scarlet Pearl Casino in D’Iberville and Tunica Roadhouse Casino in Tunica.
Teams at a glance: Mississippi doesn’t have any pro sports in the state, but there are major league teams in proximity which in the NFL is the New Orleans Saints, NBA is the New Orleans Pelicans, MLB is the Atlanta Braves, and NHL are the Nashville Predators. Since there aren’t a lot of major sports teams within the state and Mississippi is part of the SEC, most of the money placed on games are on college sports.
Status of Sports Betting
Mississippi was one of the first states to legalize gambling in the United States and did so in 2018. In 2017 Mississippi repealed the portion of its law prohibiting the activity and gaming officials said they were ready to move forward with regulations. Federal law stood in the way until recently, but the US Supreme Court removed that hurdle in May of 2018. In the state of Mississippi, the passing of House Bill 1113 officially made betting legal in the state of Mississippi. However recently a Bill was defeated that would allow mobile wagering in the state. However, there is a chance that the Bill could be approved in the future that would change the status of mobile betting that would make it legal for casinos to offer this for those physically in the state much like the state of New Jersey has done. Until then though the only way to place a sports wager in the state of Mississippi is to go to a casino and place a window at one of their sportsbooks. The next section of this article will examine the places where you can place a sports wager.
Where to Bet Sports in Mississippi
There are eight sportsbooks in the state of Mississippi which are the Golden Nugget in Biloxi, Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Ameristart Vicksburg Casino in Vicksburg, Boomtown Casino Biloxi in Biloxi, Fitz Casino in Robinsonville, Gold Strike Casino in Robinsonville, Hard Rock Sportsbook in Biloxi and 1st Jackpot Casino Tunica in Tunica. Let’s take a closer look at in-depth look at these sportsbooks, and we’ll start with the Golden Nugget.
Golden Nugget is in Biloxi, Mississippi. Their hours of operation are Monday-Thursday: 10 am-10 pm, Friday: 9 am-12 am, Saturday: 8 am-12 am, Sunday: 8 am-11 pm. The sportsbook is owned and operated by Fertitta Entertainment, Inc. The sportsbook is known for 24/7 sports betting kiosks, 50+ high definition televisions, two high definition video walls, over 120 seats and four betting windows.
The Beau Rivage Resort and Casino is located in Biloxi, Mississippi. Their hours of operation are Monday-Thursday: 9 am-10 pm, Friday 9 am-12 am, Saturday 8 am-12 am and Sunday 8 am-10 pm. The sportsbook is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International. The sportsbook is known for many big screen TVs and eight betting windows.
Ameristart Vicksburg Casino is located in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Bets at the sportsbook can be placed at The Endzone at the Ameristart Vicksburg Casino. The sportsbook is owned and operated by Penn National Gaming. The sportsbook is known for 100 seats in the sportsbook area, and they have 23 large TVs.
The Boomtown Casino Biloxi is located in Biloxi, Mississippi. The hours of operation for the sports book are Monday-Thursday 10 am-11 pm and Friday-Sunday 8 am-12 am. The sportsbook is owned and operated by Penn National Gaming. The sportsbook offers a variety of props and future bets, and there are 30 large-screen TVs in the sportsbook area.
The Fitz Casino is located in Robinsonville, Mississippi. You are allowed to place bet 7 days a week at the casino. The sportsbook is owned and operated by Fitz Tunica Casino and Hotel. They have 28 TVs in the sportsbook area.
Gold Strike Casino is located in Robinsonville, Mississippi. The sportsbook is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International.
The Hard Rock Sportsbook is located in Biloxi, Mississippi. The hours of operation for the Hard Rock Sportsbook are Monday-Thursday: 11 am-12 am, Friday: 11 am-1 am, Saturday 9 am-1 am and Sunday 9 am-12 am. The sportsbook is owned and operated by Premier Entertainment Biloxi. The features offered by the sportsbook are 30 large flat screen TVs, and the sportsbook has a bar and grill area that is adjacent to the betting windows.
Latest News
Mississippi’s only tribal casino property, Pearl River Resort will launch the first sports betting app in the state of Mississippi. The app will only function while patrons are physically located on-site at the resort. This limitation stems from Mississippi gaming regulations, while preventing online wagering outside of the casino. However, casino management says the app’s main purpose will be to help reduce that patrons in line at the betting windows as well as reduce the time it takes to make a wager.
A new bill at the state legislature would bring Mississippi sports betting into the 21st century with mobile wagering. Senator Willie Simmons of Cleveland introduced the Gaming Control Act that would among other changes make mobile sports wagering legal. Mississippi sports betting launched in August with only land and water-based wagering. Regulations from the Mississippi Gaming Commission prohibit mobile sports betting anywhere but on-site at a casino.
State House and Senate bills authorizing mobile sports wagering died after missing Tuesday, February 6th’s deadline to advance from committee Mississippi’s annual legislative session ended on April 7th. Neither H 1481 nor S 2667 received a hearing after dropping in late January, meaning Mississippi sports betting remains in-person only. Concerns including potential for underage gambling undermined the chances of mobile Mississippi sports betting bills advancing this year. That doesn’t mean that this cannot change in the future though as multiple Senators who are in favor of the Bill have already stated they would pursue it in the future.
Sports Teams That Drive Betting
Mississippi is one of the few states where sports wagering is legal that doesn’t have a pro sports team in the state which makes the sports betting in Mississippi more geared towards college sports wagering as college football is a huge entertainment factor in the state as they have two teams in the SEC as well as another Division-1 team in Southern Miss. There are however a few major sports teams in proximity to the state which include the New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Pelicans, Atlanta Braves and Nashville Predators.
The NBA team that drives sports betting in the state of Mississippi is the New Orleans Pelicans; however, this is one of the lesser sports that is bet on in Mississippi.
There are two teams in the NFL that drive sports betting in the state which are the New Orleans Saints and the Dallas Cowboys. This makes sense as New Orleans is in close proximity to Louisiana and there are a lot of Saints fans in the state.
The closest team in the MLB that is in proximity to Mississippi are the Atlanta Braves, but with a minor league team that is affiliated with the Braves in the state, there are a lot of fans of the Brave within the state, which helps to drive MLB betting in the state of Mississippi.
The Nashville Predators are the closest NHL team to Mississippi, but a lot of the wagers that are placed are in MLB, NFL and college football. However, there are some wagers that are placed on the Predators.
College Sports are the biggest revenue producers when it comes to driving the sports wagering in the state of Mississippi. The SEC in general drives the sports betting as people from the state of Alabama travel to the state to place wagers as well as players from Louisiana which means there are fans of LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss and Mississippi State that likely travel to the casino to place bets during college football and basketball season.
In closing, the major revenue producing sport is football as there are fans of the New Orleans Saints in close proximity to the Gulf Coast that like the place bets on the NFL. The biggest sport that is bet on is both college football and college basketball.
Legal Status
- Casino: Has been legal for a few decades.
- Sports Betting: Is legal but only in-person at the casinos are permitted as there has not been a Bill that has passed to allow mobile wagering.
- Horse Racing: There are no racetracks located in the state of Mississippi, but horse racing is legal and can be placed at all casinos.
- Poker: Poker is legal at all casinos in the state of Mississippi, and there are multiple tournaments held throughout the year in the state.
- DFS: DFS was passed and put into effect in March of 2017.
- Lottery: There was a lottery bill that was passed in September of 2018, but lotteries are not likely to begin until the end of 2019/beginning of 2020 in the state.
Sports Betting Timeline
- 2017 Mississippi tried to pass a Bill that would allow sports betting in-person at casinos in the state but fails to pass due to Supreme Court ruling.
- 2018 the Supreme Court overturns the law prohibiting sports wagering in the United State, Mississippi passes Bill in 2018 that allows sports wagering.
- January 2019 Bill is introduced that would allow mobile wagering in the state of Mississippi.
- February 6th, 2019, the Bill that would allow mobile wagering fails to get enough support and is defeated due to fear of underage gambling.
- April 7th Legislation ends for the year without passage of a Bill that would allow mobile wagering.
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