During a panel at the National Council of Legislators from Gaming (NCLGS) Winter Meeting, Mississippi Gaming Commission (MGC) Executive Director Jay McDaniel confirmed that the regulatory body is trying to push black market operators out of the state, but not succeeding so far.
McDaniel said he sent letters to Bovada, MyBookie, BetUs, BetWhale and BetOnline in July of this year but no operators responded and none have exited the market.
The MGC sent a second round of letters this month with a Dec. 17 deadline to respond.
While nearly 20 states have successfully pushed Bovada out of the market, Mississippi has not received a similar response. McDaniel offered his theory as to why neighboring Louisiana had instant success shutting Bovada down and he did not.
“I believe the reason is, is they are the leader in our market,” he explained. “In Louisiana, they’re competing with a legal gaming market. And so I really think it’s a blatant, ‘we are making so much money in Mississippi, we’re not leaving.'”
“We were trying to do this easy. We can do it hard,” he added.
McDaniel is one of the only regulators to expand the cease and desist letters beyond Bovada. He said he instructed his investigators to look into who the top offshore operators were and then targeted the top five.
When it comes to sweepstakes sites, a hot topic around the industry, McDaniel believes they are in violation of state laws, but noted the regulators need more time and to resolve this offshore issue before picking another battle.
“Chris [Hebert] and I’ve been talking about sweepstakes, and there’s just a lot there to get your hands around. You don’t want to start attacking it until you have a plan. But it is something we are working on, because I do believe it violates our laws. But I’ve been busy working on offshore sportsbooks.”
Hebert, the chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, also appeared on the panel and identified sweepstakes as an existential threat to Louisiana gaming. He also cited the potential legalization of gambling in Texas and the proliferation of private poker clubs in Houston as two other issues he has his eye on.
