Mississippi House members voted in favor of legalizing online sports betting in the Magnolia State again, marking the third straight year the chamber has approved the vertical despite a lack of support in the state Senate.
Members voted 85-31 on Wednesday to pass House Bill 1581, the latest attempt by Rep. Casey Eure to bring online wagering to Mississippi, a state where land-based casinos and lottery drive the gaming industry. Eure’s measure, coined as the Mississippi Mobile Sports Wagering Act, was introduced in January before undergoing amendments.
It will now head to the Senate for consideration, where it faces an uphill battle for approval after previous attempts to legalize online wagering failed.
Mississippians already doing it, says Eure
House Gaming Committee Chair Eure is making another attempt to bring online sports betting to Mississippi to generate additional tax revenue for the state. He also said that state residents show strong interest in online wagering, eight years after the state legalized sports wagering at land-based casinos in 2018.
“These are Mississippi residents crossing into other states, and the outcome of that is that Mississippi receives zero tax revenue, there’s zero oversight, zero consumer protection against these people placing bets, and problem gambling goes undetected and unmanaged,” said Eure during a House floor hearing.
According to data provided by Eure, Mississippians have attempted to place around 10 million online sports wagers since the start of the NFL season. He projects that legalization could generate an additional $80 million in tax revenue annually for the state.
HB 1581 protects revenue losses for land-based casinos
Eure’s measure proposes allowing online sports wagering through partnerships between operators and land-based casinos. HB 1581 would allow each retail casino in the state to partner with up to two online sportsbooks. As of February 2025, Mississippi is home to 30 commercial and tribal retail casinos.
Under HB 1581, Mississippi would tax online sports betting based on the state’s sliding tax scale for gaming. The scale requires operators to be taxed at a 4% for the first $50,000 in revenue an operator generates monthly. That rate increases to 6% once its $84,000 in revenue threshold is met, with an uptick to 8% for additional monthly revenue.
Eure’s measure seeks to address cannibalization concerns for land-based casinos amid the potential legalization of online wagering. HB 1581 would provide $6 million in funding for retail casinos each year for the first five years of legalized online wagering, designed to provide casinos with compensation if their revenues are impacted by online betting.
“We put this in as a safeguard to some of the casinos that are against mobile sports betting,” continued Eure. “Just to show our good faith that if they lose money, they can draw down over the $6 million.”
Bill would also fund Mississippi retirement and pensions
HB 1581 requires the remaining tax revenue from online sports betting to be allocated toward the Mississippi Public Employees’ Retirement System, a provision that was not included in Eure’s previous efforts to bring online sports betting to the Magnolia State.
The state’s pension system could also get a lift through HB 1581, as an amendment proposes a one-time $600 million transfer from the Mississippi Capital Expense Fund to the state’s pension system. The fund supports infrastructure development in Mississippi.
The amendment was included to garner support for HB 1581 from both chambers.
“Last year, we were sending the money to roads and bridges. This year we’re going to put it to [Mississippi’s pension program],” added Eure.
Uphill battle awaits again
The Mississippi Senate will have just over a month to consider HB 1581, with March 11 being the state’s deadline for original floor action on bills originating in other chambers.
HB 1581 faces an uphill battle for Senate approval after the chamber failed to progress previous online sports betting bills over gambling addiction and cannibalization concerns. Online sports betting bills sponsored by Eure passed the House but died in Senate committee in both 2024 and 2025.
Sen. David Blount, chairman of the Senate Gaming Committee, has vocally opposed mobile sports betting. He said last year that he would not consider an online sports betting proposal unless the Mississippi Gaming Commission asked for one.
