Mississippi’s sports betting market had a tough time in February.
According to figures from the Mississippi Gaming Commission (MGC) sportsbooks generated a combined revenue of $2.1m in February, representing a month-on-month and year-on-year decline for the state.
In January, regulated sportsbooks in Mississippi generated $4.6m in revenue and in February 2019, the state generated $2.8m from sports betting operations.
Although sports betting handle saw a 37.5% year-on-year increase to $34.5m last month, February’s handle was down 23.7% from the $45.2m wagered in January 2020.
Breaking down the figures
Remember, the MGC places Mississippi’s casino sportsbooks into three different categories based on their location – coastal, central and northern.
Looking closer at the figures, Mississippi’s coastal casinos continued to lead the market in February. The MGC’s figures show that sportsbooks in the coastal region generated $955,302 in revenue after bettors wagered $22.5m.
Casino sportsbooks in the central region came in second place after bettors wagered $4.3m on sports, leaving the venues with $619,209 in revenue.
Sportsbooks at northern venues generated $531,269 in revenue after processing $7.6m in sports bets.
Sports betting in Mississippi
Mississippi was one of the few states to legalize sports betting in 2018. In 2017, the state repealed a section of its law that prohibited sports betting and began work on forging sports betting regulations. Once the Supreme Court repealed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018, Mississippi went on to launch sports betting operations in August 2018.
Currently, sports betting in Mississippi is restricted to land-based sportsbooks at licensed casinos, However, Mississippi Representative Cedric Burnett has revived HB 172, a bill that would authorise mobile sports betting in the state of Mississippi.
At the time of writing, mobile sports betting apps can only be used on licensed casino property. The proposed legislation would permit state-wide sports betting via approved platforms.
