Mississippi Online Sports Betting Bill Likely Heading to Conference Committee – Sports Betting Dime

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Mississippi online sports bettings fate is likely heading to a conference committee of House and Senate representatives.

Its been an interesting two weeks for Rep.Casey Eures(HB 774) Mississippi Mobile Sports Wagering Act. Last week the bill was approved by a Senate gaming committee, but stripped of all its sports betting language before being moved ahead to the Senate as a means to continue work and negotiations on the legislation.

The Senate approved the bill this week by a 36-15 vote with a reconsideration motion. The motion was not taken up on Thursday afternoon, and the legislation will likely now head to a conference committee for further discussion.

Eures sports betting bill was stripped of all its sports betting language by the Senate gaming committee last week as a means to move the bill along, according to committee chairman Sen. David Blount (D-29).

If people are talking, its a good thing. We want to continue to let them do that. We want to continue to move the bill along. There are a lot of issues that we need to consider, from the perspective of the industry and also from the perspective of the consumer, that we will do if we get to the point where we might be able to get something done this year. In the meantime, we dont want to stop people from listening to each other and working, he said at the committee meeting.

The House version of the bill allows each of the 26 Mississippicasinos to partner with a sports betting company to offer online sports betting throughout the state. Currently, online sports betting is only legal while on casino property.

The bill was moved forward to the Senate and approved Tuesday, but a motion to reconsider was made during that time. Blount proposed tabling the motion to reconsider Thursday afternoon and his motion was accepted.

The bill that was held on the motion simply brings forth the code sections that were in the bill originally passed by the house. There is no new language and I anticipate the house will invite conference when we send it back to them, Blount said.

If a conference is requested by the House, which Blount believes it will do, representatives from both chambers will meet to negotiate what the bill will include. Sports betting will certainly again be considered by the conference members.

Mississippis legislative session is scheduled to end on Sunday, May 5.

The House-approved bill dedicates all online sports betting tax revenue into the states emergency road and bridge repair fund.

The bill includes a tiered tax system for adjusted sports betting revenue as follows:

Each operator will also have to pay an additional 4% in gross revenue into the road and bridge repair fund. Operators would have to pay a maximum of 12% in adjusted gross revenue to the state depending on their revenue each month. Based on fiscal estimates, the state could see annual sports betting tax revenues anywhere from $25 million to $35 million each year.

There are currently 26 commercial dockside and land-based casinos in Mississippi. Under this bill, each would be eligible to partner with one sports betting company to offer online sports betting in the state. However, there are no limits to how many casinos each sports betting operator can partner with. So, in theory, Mississippi could have just a handful of sports betting operators partnering with all of the casinos in the state.

Gambling Regulatory Writer and Editor

Rob covers all regulatory developments in online gambling. He specializes in US sports betting news along with casino regulation news as one of the most trusted sources in the country.

Gambling

Rob covers all regulatory developments in online gambling. He specializes in US sports betting news along with casino regulation news as one of the most trusted sources in the country.

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Mississippi Online Sports Betting Bill Likely Heading to Conference Committee - Sports Betting Dime