Mississippi Online Sports Betting

Mississippi is one of the most liberal and progressive gambling states with existing options for both land-based and online betting. Thanks to a large gambling industry, the gaming center Tunica, Mississippi is one of the three largest gambling regions in the country – only behind Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Legal sports betting became a reality when casinos in Biloxi and Tunica started accepting sports bets in August 2018. Currently, all sports betting may only take place at authorized land-based casinos, whether that be in-house or online on that establishment’s geo-protected app.

Mississippi permits some forms of online betting, most notably Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS), but not yet something in the ballpark of the premier NJ online sports betting sites. Given the state’s open approach to most other forms of gaming, it seems as if it is only a matter of time until Mississippi becomes another online sports betting state.

The state of Mississippi offers the gambling aficionados a wide of legal options; DFS, land-based sports betting, casinos, live poker, a state lottery and charitable gambling. Strangely for a state with a liberal attitude towards gaming has no legal options for betting on horses, whether online or at the track.

Mississippi’s State Gambling Tax is one of the lowest in the nation at 3% on general winnings and 8% for sports betting winnings.

Large gambling wins over $600 in the state of Mississippi may possibly attract an additional Federal Tax.

Contact your tax attorney to assess your potential Federal tax liability if you have a big win in Mississippi.

As Sports Betting is only available currently in Mississippi’s casinos, the legal gaming age to place a sports wager is 21. Casinos & DFS both have 21 years-of-age limits, while all other forms of gaming in Mississippi have an 18 years-of-age limit.

We’re now pleased to advise that the answer to everyone’s first question; ‘is sports betting legal in Mississippi?’, is an emphatic ‘Yes!’

Within hours of the U.S. Supreme Court voting to legalize sports betting in the USA in May 2018, the Mississippi Gaming Commission immediately released draft regulations to govern sports betting. After a 30-day review period, those regulations went into effect and licensed gaming operators began applying to offer sports betting.

Regulators spent the next few weeks preparing for the launch of sports betting and the first sports wagers in Mississippi history were placed on August 1, 2018 in five of the state’s casinos. Now all of Mississippi’s 30 riverboat and land-based casino properties under the purview of the state’s gaming commission are able to offer sportsbooks that are all expected to be approved for sports betting.

Online sports wagering is also permitted, but only if conducted on-site at an approved gaming facility. No mobile or online betting can take place off the grounds of a casino.

As the gambling legislation is currently written in Mississippi, the law limits gambling to those physically present in a licensed casino. Senate bill SB 2667 was introduced in the Mississippi legislature in 2019 in an attempt to legalize mobile wagering across the state. However, it died at the committee level before a vote could be made, so any wagers at an online sportsbook must occur while you are on the grounds of the state’s many land and riverboat casinos. 

However, DFS sites are all open to accept online players from the state of Mississippi

Fantasy sports betting has long been considered to be exempt from any form of U.S. federal legislation as it has been assessed to be widely considered a contest of skill, not a gambling game of chance.

Some U.S. states prohibit fantasy sports, however, Mississippi never moved to put an end to the popular DFS competitions. Quite conversely as a matter of fact, for in 2017, Mississippi State Legislators passed legislation (HB 967) to formally legalize, recognize and regulate fantasy sports as ‘contests of skill not chance’.

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) sites must be licensed to operate in Mississippi and are subject to numerous consumer protection regulations. Requirements include;

• All sites be licensed,
• Players must be over 18 years of age
• DFS sites cannot offer fantasy contests based on collegiate level sports events or any other youth sports matches for residents or citizens of Mississippi. (Unlike other states that have a specific ban on all amateur sports, Olympic sports are permissible for DFS competitions under Mississippi law.)
• DFS site employees are ineligible to play in Mississippi.
• All DFS sites must be subject to independent audits and take steps to prevent problem gambling occurring as well as offering advice and assistance if/when it does occur that they keep players’ funds in a separate account from operator funds (in order to protect customers’ deposits).

Online Players had been able to play DFS online in Mississippi for years prior to the 2017 legislation and little has altered now for the players. The biggest DFS sites are all currently authorized to continue holding real money contests in Mississippi.

Although traditional sports wagering is now legal in the Magnolia State, there is still no eSports betting permissible under the law at this time. Whilst the law reads it should be approved without a concern, eSports are still subject to Mississippi Gaming Commission approval before becoming readily available to the state’s sports bettors.

eSports has basically turned professional video game playing at the very highest level into a full-fledged professional sport. Rarely played at an individual level, it’s most played by teams across different leagues and tournaments.

The electronic games themselves are like different sports types, in some ways. For example, in eSports, League of Legends and Fortnite, are equivalent to football and baseball. In other words, eSports is the overall concept (like Sports), while the different game types are similar to the individual types of sports.

Betting on eSports continues to gain in popularity each year, with an increasing number of sportsbooks now offering a range of betting markets across all major eSports tournaments. In some U.S. states, it is eSports that is driving the change to sports betting legalization through legislation.

Look for eSports betting at your favorite Mississippi sportsbook.

Wagering on horse racing in Mississippi is legal, however it is a state without much of a history in the sport. Bettors must go to physical casinos to bet on simulcast racing from around the country because they are unable to place any wagers from their mobile devices.

Trackside

There are currently no horse or greyhound tracks in the state of Mississippi.

Off Track Betting (OTB) in Mississippi

Without any tracks in the state, the casinos – both on land and riverboats – serve as the unofficial OTB’s in Mississippi. Any sportsbook with a license can also offer simulcast wagering, but there are no OTB’s officially in the state.

Online Horse Racing Betting in Mississippi

There is no online horse racing betting allowed in Mississippi. However, unlike general sports betting, you cannot bet on mobile devices on horse racing at the casino.

Visit Our page on Mississippi’s Online casino and gambling laws to see our list of the Top casino reviews for the Magnolia State