The Mississippi Gaming Commission recently released figures for sports betting in September, indicating wagerers bet $31.77 million, generating $4.4 million in taxable revenue for the first full month of professional and college football. In August, sports betting produced $644,489 in taxable revenue on a $7.7 million handle, including futures bets.
More than half of the September handle, or $22.91 million, was for bets on football. Coastal casinos took in $16.27 million on football bets; north Mississippi sports books collected $4.37 million; and the central region took in $2.27 million. The next highest handle was $4.53 million on parlay cards, followed by $3.75 million on baseball.
Parlay cards accounted for $1.68 million in handle in the northern part of the state, nearly three times the baseball handle. At coastal sportsbooks, handle for baseball and parlays cards were about even, and in the central region baseball bets ran much higher than parlay cards.
Mississippi has a total of 22 sports books now. Only two were open for the entire August reporting period and another 18 opened on August 17 or later. Fitzgerald’s in Tunica opened September 28 and Magnolia Bluffs in Natchez opened October 19.
Sports betting is taxed at 12 percent, with 8 percent going to the state and 4 percent to local governments. In September, sports betting generated $660,000 in tax revenue, with $440,000 to the state and $220,000 to local governments.
Sports betting in Mississippi only is permitted on-site, but not outside. Mobile betting is allowed on-premise but no casino offers that yet.
