Mississippi lawmakers have advanced two significant pieces of gambling legislation, passing a bill to legalise mobile sports betting in the House and a separate measure in the Senate that would ban online sweepstakes casinos.
In the House, representatives voted 85–31 to approve House Bill 1581, which would authorise legal online sports betting platforms to operate in the state.
The bill requires mobile operators to partner with existing brick-and-mortar casinos, limiting each property to two platform partners. HB 1581 also mandates geofencing technology to ensure wagers are placed only by users physically located within Mississippi.
Pension Funding and Sweepstakes Restrictions
A significant change to the sports betting bill establishes a direct connection between tax money and the state’s Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS).
Proceeds from sports betting would go into the pension fund under the clause, provided that the investment returns met certain criteria.
The bill also includes a trigger requiring a one-time $600m (£443m) transfer from the state’s Capital Expense Fund to PERS if certain conditions are met. Additionally, a $6m (£4m) fund would be created to compensate casinos if mobile betting causes a drop in their revenue.
Meanwhile, the Senate has passed Senate Bill 2104, which explicitly targets online sweepstakes casinos.
The bill classifies any device used to play online sweepstakes games as a gambling device and declares the operation of such platforms illegal under state law. The sweepstakes ban carries very harsh penalties. Apart from a fine of up to $100,000 (£73,000), the promoters or operators of the platforms can also be imprisoned for up to 10 years.
A ‘safe harbor’ provision in the bill shields third-party service providers — like geolocation or content providers — from penalties if they don’t know about illicit activities, don’t take bets directly, or don’t split the profits.
Both bills now move to the opposite chamber for further consideration, setting up a potential legislative clash as the House pushes for betting expansion while the Senate prioritises stricter controls on unregulated gaming.
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