Mississippi stands to receive about $5 million in tax revenue from sports betting at casinos throughout the state. While not a windfall, the revenue is much needed to stabilize an industry putting up declining numbers in recent years, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Revenue generated by sports betting goes to state road and bridge repairs.
Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, said sports betting since its introduction in 2018 has increased “the foot traffic” going into casinos. People are apt to gamble on other games when they arrive to place their wager.
Indeed, gaming tax revenue to the state increased 5.2 percent or $6.8 million in the 2019 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, over the prior fiscal year. This fiscal year through January, revenue is up 1.15 percent to $79.4 million.
But overall, the industry has declined during the past decade. In 2010, there were 30 licensed casinos employing 24,000 people generating $2.4 billion in gross revenue. In 2019, the numbers dwindled to 26 casinos employing 19,000 people and generating $2.2 billion in revenue, according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
Still, concerns remain, particularly for casinos on the Mississippi River in the north Delta, places like Tunica, that felt the impact of gambling in Arkansas, Oklahoma and other locations. Tennessee has approved but is yet to implement mobile sports betting. When enacted, residents can wager on a sporting event via cell phone.
Yet in Mississippi, people have to travel to a casino to bet. That could change if the legislature acts. “I am looking at it,” said House Gaming Committee Chair Casey Eure. “We are going to do something this year or next year, next year is more likely. I want to make sure we do it right.”
Eure does not want to pass legislation that would harm an industry that came of age along the Gulf Coast in the 1990s.
Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming and Hospitality Association, said the state’s casinos are working on a proposal to present to the Legislature to legalize mobile sports betting.
