House Gaming chairman throws cold water on Jackson Casino bills filed this year

Mississippians are one step closer to having statewide online mobile sports betting, but hurdles in the Mississippi Legislature still need to be cleared before the idea is totally greenlit.

The Mississippi House of Representatives on Monday passed legislation to establish statewide online mobile sports betting with overwhelming support from chamber members.

The bill was met with some resistance from House Minority Leader Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, who also opposed the legislation in 2024. However, the bill passed with 88 votes in favor and only 10 votes in opposition.

House Gaming Committee Chair Casey Eure, R-Saucier, said the bill will likely head to conference, meaning it will not likely be accepted as is by the Mississippi Senate and will be debated and negotiated for before passing.

The Senate Gaming Committee, which will consider the bill next, is chaired by Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, who also opposed the House’s mobile sports betting bill in 2024. Blount did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Eure also said the bill would add millions in yearly revenue to the state via a 12% tax on all mobile sports bets. The money would go to all 82 counties to fund roads and bridges projects.

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Johnson, who represents an area with a casino, questioned why tax revenue generated from the legislation would go to all 82 counties when only a few in the state have casinos, such as those along the Mississippi River and Gulf Coast.

“That’s the region that this gambling resource is coming out of,” Johnson said. “This (should not) protect all 82 counties. This (should) protect counties who have suffered through the risk of establishing a casino and have had them there for years. Not the counties that said ‘no’, but to the county that said, ‘Yes.’”

Last year, Eure estimated a mobile sports betting program could be bring in about $25 million in tax revenue.

As for prospective players, the bill would:

• Allow any person within the state to place an online mobile sports bet. Currently, you would need to be on casino grounds to bet online.
• Allow casinos to partner with two online betting platforms to begin online sports betting business.
• Players would not be allowed to use credit cards, but they could use debit cards and online payment options such as Cashapp or Venmo.
• Platforms would be required to age verify players. In Mississippi, players must be 21 years old.

Other states throughout the Southeast have been earning oodles of money in tax revenue from mobile sports betting. For example, Eure said, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky and North Carolina have made tens of millions in sports betting tax revenues since implementing their own programs.

“That just goes to show you that we’re losing a lot of tax revenue to these online sports betting,” Eure said.

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Eure said on the House floor the bill added several provisions in addition to what it had last year in order to please some members in the Senate and the gaming community at large.

Last year, the bill died in conference due to concerns that the online betting programs would drive foot traffic away from brick-and-mortar casinos and possibly cost jobs.

Cold water thrown on Jackson casino project bills

Before the vote on mobile sports betting, Rep. William Brown, D-Jackson, asked if Eure had any intentions of supporting legislation to establish a Jackson casino project, which died in the House Ways and Means Committee last year.

Several bills to establish a Jackson casino have been filed into the Legislature this year but as of Monday afternoon none have passed through a committee. Lawmakers have until Tuesday evening to pass such a bill onto either the House or Senate floor.

Eure acknowledged the bill from 2024, but on Monday he said he had heard no such support for a project, and essentially dismissed the idea.

“I’ve had no one contact me, and I’ve had no conversations about a Jackson Casino,” Eure said.

Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.