House Says Yes, Senate Says No as Mississippi Online Sports Betting Stalls for Third Year
Credit: Ken Lund/Flickr
Mississippi has come up short for a third consecutive year in its effort to bring online sports betting to the Magnolia State. The House and renewed public pressure pushed to modernize gambling in the state, but the Senate once again halted any potential progress.
During the 2026 legislative session, lawmakers made their strongest attempt yet to push through online sports betting in Mississippi. Two separate bills cleared the House with large majorities.
Lawmakers passed House Bill 1581 by 83-51 and gave House Bill 4074 an impressive 100-11 backing. However, this support didn’t translate into progress, as the Senate Gaming Committee stopped both bills from advancing, meaning no final floor vote even took place.
The committee chairman, State Sen. David Blount, was one of the strongest opponents, questioning what he believes are overinflated projections of online sportsbook revenue and raising broader social concerns.
Staunch Opposition to Mississippi Online Sports Betting
Mississippi is home to 26 land-based casinos, and these operators have voiced significant opposition to iGaming legalization due to fears of cannibalization. This opposition has created another barrier for lawmakers who are trying to convince senators to support the legislation.
Rep. Casey Eure sponsored both bills and pursued two different approaches. One proposal would have allowed the 26 Mississippi casinos to partner with up to two online operators and direct tax revenue to the Public Employees Retirement System.
The other bill limited this to a single operator per casino but reduced the total casino tax rate from 8% to 6%. Lawmakers positioned this tax-cut proposal as an olive branch to casino opposition. However, lawmakers turned it into a point of contention as they debated the net benefit of introducing online sportsbooks.
Blount argued that the tax cut, which would save the casinos around $50 million per year, more than offset potential revenue gained from online sports betting. He projected that online sportsbooks would generate about $14 mililon in tax revenue in their first year, compared to Eure’s projected $39 million to $74 million.
Blount told the Clarion Ledger that “there is really no meaningful financial benefit to the state” from legalizing sports betting.
Mississippi’s Deepening Isolation
Mississippi became one of the first states to legalize sports betting after the Supreme Court ended the federal ban on the activity in May 2018. However, lawmakers limited this to retail-only betting. Now, 30 states have introduced online sports betting, and almost 40 offer retail options.
The defeat of both bills means Mississippi will not realistically revisit the issue until the 2027 legislative session. The state’s annual lawmaking calendar leaves no option to reconsider the issue before then.
Whether 2027 delivers a different outcome remains uncertain. Over the past three years, Eure has consistently pushed legislation through the House, but Blount has repeatedly blocked it at the Senate committee stage.
Local casino lobbying, ongoing disagreements over revenue projections, and continued Senate resistance will likely remain key obstacles next year. Until then, millions of Mississippians will continue using offshore sites and prediction market platforms to place their sports wagers.
Image credit: Ken Lund/Flickr (license)
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