Mississippi sports betting handle falls to $29.2m in May

The state’s handle came in at $29.2m, a decrease of 19 per cent from the same month in 2021.

US.- Mississippi’s sports betting handle was $29.2m in May, down 19 per cent from $36.1m in May 2021 and down 16 per cent from $35.5m in April this year. According to the Mississippi Gaming Control Board (MGCB), revenue slipped 4 per cent year-on-year to $4m, slightly higher than April’s $4.2m.

Coastal casinos generated $2.4m in revenue from $18.9m in wagers. Revenue from central casinos was $945,559, with players having wagered $5.7m. Northern casino revenue amounted to $613,628 from a handle of $4.5m.

The most popular sport in the state was basketball, with $9.6m of total wagers, followed by baseball with $8.6m. Casinos had a total win percentage of 13.7 per cent.

Although Mississippi was one of the first states to offer legal sports betting following the US Supreme Court’s repeal of PASPA in 2018, bettors can currently only wager at the state’s casinos and not online. Mississippi has 26 commercial casinos that permit retail sports betting.

Some lawmakers are trying to legalise mobile sports betting in the state but state rep. Cedric Burnett’s House Bill 184 died in committee on February 1.