Legal sportsbooks might open in struggling Mississippi casinos like the Golden Moon in Philadelphia/Choctaw.
Mississippi House of Representatives passed a daily fantasy sports bill earlier this year which would legalize sportsbooks, if the federal sports betting ban was overturned.
At present, a Supreme Court case holds the possibility of overturning those laws as early as Fall 2017.
In 2016, Mississippi’s passed a daily fantasy sports bill. Earlier this year, the legislature enacted HB 967 to their daily fantasy sports bill which would legalize sports betting in the state.
Mississippi lawmaker Scott Delano recently said in a Biloxi newspaper, “We did make modifications to Gaming Control Act that would allow for the Gaming Commission to regulate sports betting if it were ever to be overturned at the federal level.”
Scott Delano on Mississippi Sports Betting Laws
State Representative Scott DeLano told the Biloxi Sun Herald that the bill was not scrutinized closely by lawmakers, because most of the clauses of the bill involved fantasy sports regulation. Delano told the newspaper that H 967 would support legal sportsbooks, though, in the right circumstances.
Currently, the United State Supreme Court is reviewing the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. Lawyers for New Jersey plan to argue for the Supreme Court to overturn a district court ruling which supports the PASPA. Lawyers for the American sports associations — led by the NFL, NBA, and MLB — will argue for the continuation of PASPA.
If New Jersey is successful, then individual states would decide whether a brick-and-mortar sportsbooks would be legal. Though the administration of Governor Phil Bryant has no intention to challenge the federal PASPA law the way Chris Christie did in New Jersey, the law is in place, in case it becomes relevent.
Mississippi Gaming Control Act of 2017
The original “Mississippi Gaming Control Act” stated that it is illegal to gamble on the outcome of an athletic event or a matter determined during an athletic events, such as proposition bets. The bill also made it illegal to wager on the outcome of an event which took place “off-premise”. The off-premise stipulation refers not only to sporting events, but prop bets involving politics, celebrity relationships, and other offbeat pop culture events like alien landings. Essentially, any bizarre wager a UK sportsbook might offer was made illegal under Mississippi law.
The 2017 amendment to the Mississippi Gaming Control Act eliminated the passages involving wagers on athletic events or off-premise events. Anything which makes sports wagering illegal in Mississippi was struck out of the law.
This was hardly noticed at the time. Online gaming writers and Mississippi media reported on the fantasy sports aspects of H 967, but little was said about the sports betting provisions. It is clear, if PASPA is struck down by the Supreme Court, Mississippi could be one of the first US states outside of Nevada to offer legal sportsbooks.
“Another 1990s for the State of Mississippi”
Allen Godfrey, head of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, said HB 967 allows for legal sports betting. Godfrey said, “I think that opens up an opportunity to offer it as a legal game.”
Like the politicians in New Jersey, Alan Godfrey sees legal sports betting as a way to bolster the casino industry, which has had troubles in recent years. Godfrey went so far as to invoke the 1990s, when Tunica County’s casino industry boomed, saying, “We feel this could be another 1990s for the state of Mississippi.”
How Mississippi Sports Betting Would Look
The likely form of Mississippi legal sports betting would be through the state’s substantial casino industry. Like Las Vegas Strip casinos, Mississippi’s casinos in Tunica County and cities like Gulfport, Biloxi, and Vicksburg would be allowed to open sportsbooks.
At the moment, Mississippi has 31 land-based casinos in 11 different cities. Each of those casino operations theoretically could open sportsbooks. Presumably, each would need to apply for a license. The license application fee might cost millions of dollars, though the state’s gaming regulators and/or lawmakers would need to devise the specific policies for licensing and regulation. The same goes for tax rates on sports bets.
Almost certainly, Mississippi would have two dozen or more sportsbooks within a relatively short period of time. Gamblers could bet on NCAA and pro sports, though high school sports betting is banned even in Nevada. NFL football betting is the biggest revenue generator in Las Vegas, though MLB baseball, NBA baseball, and NHL hockey all have their loyal bettors. Boxing matches and MMA contests like the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) would garner attention. Then there are those celebrity and political prop bets.
US Supreme Court Decision in October
The U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear New Jersey’s case recently, but the final decision will not come until October or later. The two sides file legal briefs with the court. The justices read the briefs and become intimitely familiar with the arguments, as well as the legal history of the case.
When the next session of the Supreme Court begins in October, each side will be summoned to the Supreme Court in Washington DC to answer questions from the nine justices. The justices then will vote on the case (twice actually). If the Chief Justice votes with the majority, he will choose one of the justices to write the majority decision. The senior justice among the dissenters (if any) will write the dissenting opinion.
How Long Until Mississippi Sportsbooks Open?
If the justices rule against the PASPA law, the federal law which has governed sports betting in America since 1993 would be struck down overnight. It is unknown how long it would take for Mississippi sportsbooks to begin operations. If New Jersey’s Monmouth Park is any indication, it could happen within 10 days to 3 weeks of the Supreme Court decision. Because the Supreme Court ruling would be during the NFL regular season — peak time for American sports bettors — one can assume that a few Mississippi casinos would offer bookmaker services within a few weeks.
