Mississippi sports betting handle drops 29.4% in February
Operators see revenue cut in half from January, table games and slots also down.
Sports bettors in Mississippi made $47.8m in wagers in February, a decline of 29.4% from January, according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
The Magnolia State had set a record with $67.7m in handle in January.
Handle was up 38.7% year-over-year, the MGC noted.
Sportsbook operators took in $4.6m in revenue in February 2021, down 49.5% from the previous month, when they saw $9.1m in revenue. However, revenue was up 118.8% from February 2020.
The month-over-month decline followed a trend seen in many other states, as January’s busy NFL Playoff calendar turned into one game attracting wagers – the Super Bowl. And, of course, February has three fewer days than January.
Still, bettors in Mississippi made $6m in wagers on football during February.
Basketball took over the top slot, being responsible for $28.5m in wagers last month.
The Mississippi sports betting market lags those in other states with similar populations sizes due to several restrictions. Players must register in person before being allowed to make wagers, and then they must be inside a land-based casino to make an online bet.
Two pieces of legislation that would have allowed mobile sports wagering failed to make it out of committee in the state senate.
Land-based casinos saw their slots and table games handle decline both month-over-month and year-over-year.
February 2021 slots handle was $1.7 billion, a drop of 14.4% from $2 billion in January 2021, and a dip of 9.1% from $1.9 billion in February 2020.
Last month’s table games handle was $135.5m, 11.7% down from January’s $153.4m, and 15.8% below February 2020’s $161m.
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