Mississippi Casinos Move Forward with Legal Sports Betting
The timing for this decision could not have been any better. The ultimate goal of just about every casino operator is to have some form of legal sports betting in place ahead of the new football season starting in early September. NFL games will probably bring in the biggest handle, but Mississippi is SEC Country, with college football expected to be a big part of the mix. Many of the casino operators in the state are working on their applications for a license. Some of the Mississippi casinos mentioned by name were the Choctaw’s Golden Moon, Silver Star and Bok Homa. The MGM Resorts’ Beau Rivage in Biloxi and the Gold Strike in Tunica Resorts are two of the bigger properties expected to be up and running with sports betting for football season.
Also in the mix are plans to allow real money online sports betting in the state. The new rules that were recently adopted would only allow an online sports bet to be placed within the confines of an actual brick-and-mortar Mississippi casino. This would allow betting through online and phone apps. However, a patron would have to physically be inside of a casino property for the bet to go through. The process involves the registration of a mobile betting account with that specific venue. When it comes to the projected revenue that legal sports betting could provide to Mississippi, the state tax on every sports bet has been set at 12 percent. Any wins of $10,000 or more will have to be reported to the state to still comply with federal gaming laws.