The Magnolia State of Mississippi achieved a sports betting first in late August when the Choctaw Indian tribe opened a sportsbook at its Pearl River Resort-based Golden Moon casino. In doing so it became the first tribe to offer sports wagering outside of Nevada post-PASPA. Operating from the site’s former Timeout Lounge, the facility hosts three wagering stations, 12 wagering screens and 20 large screen TVs for bettors to view sporting action.
Since the launch, the tribe has opened a second Pearl River sportsbook at the Bok Homa casino complete with 13 screens and one wagering station. A third is due to open at the Silver Star casino, also located at Pearl River. Tribal Chief Phyliss J Anderson said in a press release: “We’re very excited to be one of the very first tribal gaming facilities to offer traditional sports wagering. Our guests can now bet on all professional league sports and major collegiate sporting events on our property.”
For the time being, bettors will only be allowed to place wagers physically in person at the Timeout Lounge sportsbook. But the plan is to eventually introduce limited electronic betting via account based mobile wagers across the Pearl River resort complex.
Mississippi will have high hopes for a boost to state coffers following the introduction of sports betting. Casino revenue is somewhat static and according to the AGA’s state-by-state report casino gaming revenue was down by $2bn in 2017, marking a return to declining annual returns.
Mobile gambling would be seen as a useful tool in helping turning that decline around, but for the foreseeable future, bettors will need to place their wagers in-person within the casino property. SBC Americas understands that from a legislative perspective there is little in the way of resistance to the idea of mobile gaming, but it will require political influence for a change in the existing law to gain traction.
