Athletes spent $31.4 million on sports betting in February, down 21.1% from $39.8 million in Mississippi last year and down 45.1% from $57.2 million in January.
Inevitably, a sharp drop in year-over-year and month-over-month revenue also led to a drop in revenue. In February, Mississippi’s revenue reached $2.3 million. That was 25.8% less than the $3.1 million reported in February 2023 and 65.7% less than the $6.7 million reported in January this year, the commission said.
Coastal casinos are still popular with Mississippi players
Segmenting these figures by casino location, coastal stadiums remain the most popular for athletes when it comes to sports betting.
During February, consumers bet a total of $19.5 million at coastal casinos, a significant portion of which was spent on basketball. The casinos grossed $1 million per month. 경마
Elsewhere, the central casino reported spending a total of $7.8 million, earning $833,042 in sports betting revenue. Once again, basketball proved to be the most popular sport to bet on, drawing $3.7 million in bets.
Finally, casinos in the northern part of the country raked in $435,989 from $4.1 million in bets during February. Players made $2.1 million in bets at these casinos.
Your online bet bill is on your balance
Mississippi is still a retail-only market, where players can only make legitimate bets with licensed land-based sportsbooks. However, it remains possible that the state will legalize some form of online betting in the not-too-distant future.
House Bill 774 was presented to the Mississippi House of Representatives in January in hopes of making this happen. The bill will expand the current betting market to enable online betting as well.
A standout feature of the bill is allowing all 26 land-based casinos in Mississippi to start making online bets. Casinos will be able to work with one licensed platform to offer bets in addition to existing retail sportsbooks.
However, the fate of the bill remains uncertain. The bill passed the House of Representatives and moved quickly, but it has participated in the Senate Game Committee since late February, making no further moves.
HB774 is not the only legislation aimed at legalizing online betting. HB271 and HB635 with similar end goals were introduced in this legislative session.