Mississippi – Legal Sports Betting

Mississippi offers both commercial and tribal locations for sports betting. Tribal casinos do not fall under the umbrella of the state’s gaming board, the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

Sports Betting in Mississippi – background

Legalized sports betting for Mississippi trailed shortly behind Delaware and New Jersey. Although they may have been only the third state to join in the gaming trend, the state set itself apart from the others by becoming the first state outside of Nevada to allow bets on in-state colleges along with professional teams.

Making state history, on August 1, 2018, the Beau Rivage Casino and Resort and Gold Strike Casino Resort took the state’s first sports bets. Following a few short weeks later, 20 of the Mississippi’s commercial casinos were offering sports betting. Two casinos also opened their own sportsbooks.

Lawmakers in the state have tried to legalize statewide online sports betting several times since 2018. Multiple bills have been filed every year since to do so. But, all of them have failed because the state’s casinos want to keep sports betting in-house.

Legal Sports Betting apps in Mississippi

Currently, the state of Mississippi’s laws limit gambling to gamblers physically present in a licensed casino. Sports betting is permitted electronically, but only if conducted on-site. For now, no mobile or online wagering can take place outside the grounds of a casino.

During the state’s 2019 legislative session, Sen. Willie Simmons introduced the Gaming Control Act. The bill would have legalized mobile sports betting apps which could be used anywhere in the state. However, other MS lawmakers were not ready to expand the state’s sports betting operations quite yet and the bill died in committee on February 5, 2019.

A similar bill was introduced in January of 2020 when MS HB 172 was brought by Rep. Cedric Burnett in the state House. That bill failed to gain any traction and eventually died in committee.

 The most recent attempt came in February of 2021, however, all three online sports betting bills that legislative session died in committee.

Fortunately for Mississippi’s sports wagering enthusiasts, there are a plethora of casinos to choose from.

Mississippi casinos offering an opportunity to place sports bets include:

Tribal Casinos

• Bok Homa Casino
• Pearl River Resort
• Golden Moon Hotel & Casino at Pearl River Resort
• Silver Star Casino