Sports betting is one of the highly-discussed topics in the past almost couple of months ever since the US Supreme Court made clear its decision to overturn PASPA. Mississippi considered the appropriate regulation of its future field and this Thursday saw the official greenlighting of the gambling activity within the borders of the state which would go live in as many as 30 days.
SCOTUS has been closely observed in the past several months since the beginning of this year, as it was known that it is preparing for the long-anticipated ruling on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act which was issued back in 1992. It was the only thing standing in the way of legal sports betting across the states and as such many states were interested in removing it from the picture. For the time being, sports betting is fully-legalized in as many as three states, to the liking of Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Rhode Island is well on its way to greenlighting it as well which could coincide with the launch of the gambling activity in West Virginia which also gave it the nod and is working on the future field. Now Mississippi might become the next state to provide its players with the much-anticipated gaming offering. This Thursday was previously appointed as the day which sees the official vote of the Mississippi Gaming Commission on whether or not to launch sports gambling with the help of the revised regulation.
It could be recalled that this move comes as a result of a considerable preparation which could be traced back to 2017 when the local authorities introduced some changes to the regulation with the help of HB967 which legalized daily fantasy sports activities as a form of gambling. In a way, this facilitates any further improvements in the field and the prognoses back then were that the state could be warming up to the idea of sports betting.
Sports Gambling Comes to State
When the House Bill was turned into law, Representative Scott DeLano, R-Biloxi, stated that the state could bring sports book to casino venue in the region once PASPA is overturned by the SCOTUS. Since the law has already been discussed and it was introduced in the books, the only thing left for the state lawmakers after the ruling was to review it and propose the regulations it provides at the official voting this Thursday.
In exactly a month from the ruling, everyone interested will be able to enter one of the 28 casino venues across the state and bet on sports events in a legal manner. About 30 days ago the state of Mississippi reintroduced the 21-page document which aims to regulate the future field of horse racing and sports betting. There is also framework provided for the mobile use within the ranges of the field, as well as wagering on single sporting events, giving people more gaming offerings to chose from.
According to the wording which was proposed for voting this Thursday, the application process for a sports book will be open solely for casino operator which have а gaming license issued by the Mississippi Gaming Commission and are currently in operation on a state level. Only casino venues will have the permission to offer sports betting within Mississippi, but since there are as many as 28 of them, players would not find it hard to locate one.
Every operating casino which provides sports wagering will have to pay a tax on its revenue to the state amounting to some 12 percent on the bets placed only. As much as 8 percent is going to be allocated to the state, whereas 4 percent will go for local tax. There is one difference from the regulations provided in the states of New Jersey and Delaware, however, which claims that bets could also be placed on collegiate teams.
This is a relatively controversial decision which was first witnessed in the proposed sports betting framework of Pennsylvania. Another thing which should be taken into account is the fact that there will not be any integrity fee paid introduced to the future field. The said royalty was previously demanded by professional sports leagues to the liking of Major League Baseball and the NBA.
