In 1990, the Mississippi Legislature quietly approved a law allowing casinos in the state. The state Gaming Commission acted in a similar fashion Thursday, unanimously approving sports betting regulations with no discussion during its meeting.
Barring the unexpected, you’ll be able to place a legal sports bet in Mississippi by the end of July, thanks to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said all states get to make their own gambling laws.
The state’s casinos along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast are the big winners. Gamblers in the state must be in a casino to place a sports bet. They can also place a bet online, but they must set up a special account and be at a casino or its hotel when they wager.
However, the existing illegal sports betting network is the biggest winner, because casinos are a good distance from a big chunk of the state’s population.
If you live in Natchez, Biloxi or Vicksburg, these regulations are no problem at all. But if you live 100 miles or more from one of the state’s casinos, there’s no incentive to drive that far to lay down some money. It will still be easier to call your neighborhood bookie. Which means the state will be missing out on potential tax revenue from the new stream of gambling.
That criticism aside, it’s understandable that the Gaming Commission would protect the casinos. These companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the state, creating a bunch of jobs and tax revenue. They’re the professionals at running gambling operations and probably deserve the first shot at doing it.
The commission rejected requests from professional sports leagues to change some of the regulations. For example, the leagues wanted the ability to have casinos reject certain kinds of bets that have little to do with the final score, such as which player will commit the first foul in a basketball game.
The Gaming Commission also chose not to restrict betting on games involving Mississippi universities, which will turn out to be a mistake if bettors are able to bribe unpaid athletes. The regulations allow betting on all sports at the professional or collegiate level, as well as the Olympic games, horse racing and even greyhound racing.
The most interesting thing to do now is follow the money. The state will get a 12 percent cut of casinos’ sports betting revenue, and we’ll know within a few months how good the gambling houses are at bringing in new business.
The big unknown is whether pro sports leagues and the NCAA will threaten a lawsuit against states that open new sports books. This could go either way. The leagues might be satisfied with the greater publicity that legal sports betting will provide — or they might want a piece of the action.
Since pro sports owners — and university presidents, for that matter — are pretty good at finding extra money, the chances of Option No. 2 occurring would be the smarter bet.
