The mobile sports betting in the state in hopes of better informing legislators when mobile wagering legislation is filed in 2024.
Rep. Casey Eure said at Tuesday’s meeting that he intends to introduce a mobile wagering bill in the legislative session, which begins on Jan. 2.
“I’ve already publicly said that I will have a bill that I will introduce,” Eure said. “Now, I can’t sit here and tell you for sure that it’s gonna the House and I’ll be able to send it to the Senate, but I wanted everybody to know where I stood from Day 1.”
The task force is required to create a report on mobile sports betting’s potential impact. The report is due to the legislature by Dec. 15, and the task force will meet again at least once before the report’s due date.
Tuesday’s conversation a4l3m
At Tuesday’s meeting, several speakers addressed the task force to share potential pros and cons of legalizing mobile sports wagering. Currently, Mississippi has retail sports wagering and retail casinos, but not mobile betting outside of casino walls.
Based on Tuesday’s from casino representatives, if mobile sports betting is legalized in Mississippi, they’d like mobile licenses to be tethered to retail casinos. There was also some concern from some casino representatives about mobile betting hurting the retail sports betting business.
Representatives from PENN Entertainment, which will soon launch DraftKings each focused their Tuesday presentations on the consumer protections available in a legal market and the potential tax revenue increase should Mississippi legalize online sports betting. PENN Entertainment’s Jason Tosches, the company’s director of public affairs and government relations, also pushed back on the idea that mobile sports betting would hurt brick-and-mortar casinos.
“We believe any notion that online sports betting would somehow negatively impact land-based casinos, lead to property closures, or damage the state’s existing regulatory framework is simply false,” Tosches said. “Indiana, and Iowa all had greater slot and table game revenue last year than in 2019, and these are among the first movers that authorized online sports betting between three and five years ago.”
Data reveals betting appetite 5k5c6q
GeoComply’s John Pappas, the company’s senior vice president of government and public affairs, shared data with the task force on the appetite in Mississippi for legal sports betting platforms.
GeoComply reported 1.72 million geolocation checks in Mississippi since the start of the 2023 college football season. Those checks represent Mississippians accessing legal sportsbooks in other states, but getting blocked from wagering on those platforms. The attempts were conducted by more than 64,000 individual s.
Additionally, GeoComply found that 1,702 players were geolocated in Mississippi and then traveled across state lines to Louisiana.
Pappas suggested that Mississippians want legal mobile sportsbooks in their jurisdiction, and they’re currently either visiting other states to bet or using illegal, offshore platforms.
The task force will next meet on Nov. 13, and the group is expected to discuss what a 2024 mobile sports betting bill may look like during that meeting.
