Mississippi’s sports handle went down in February after the handle saw an increase to open the new year. The Magnolia State currently offers its residents retail sports betting. Mobile sports betting will take some time to come to fruition.
Mississippi’s Sports Betting Handle in February
Sportsbook operators in the state posted a handle of $40.9 million. Which is a decrease of 38.6 percent from January’s $66.5 million. The year-to-date figures also noted a decline of 14.5 percent from February 2021’s $47.8 million.
The sports betting handle dropping led to the revenue numbers declining for the month. The total revenue hit $1.9 million for February, which notes a significant decrease of 71 percent from January’s $6.5 million and a decrease of 59 percent from February 2021’s $4.6 million.
As of right now, 26 commercial casinos across the state offer retail sports betting to their residents.
Breaking Down the State’s Gaming Numbers For the Month
February’s slot numbers showed a very slight increase of 0.5 percent from $2.147 billion to January’s $2.137 billion. Mississippi’s February table games’ handle hit $162.54 million, which was a decrease of 4.6 percent from January’s $170.4 million.
The pressure is on the state’s lawmakers as most of Mississippi’s neighboring states offer mobile sports betting. To the north, Tennessee only offers mobile sports betting but has become a prominent destination in the industry.
Some of the other states include Louisiana and Arkansas. Louisiana is a huge gaming hub in the Gulf that is between the second and third-most-populous state that includes Texas and Florida. Arkansas recently just launched its mobile sports betting market through Southland Casino in West Memphis by launching a Betly Sportsbook app.
Online Sports Betting Will Take Some Time in Mississippi
Establishing a mobile sports betting market isn’t on the state’s radar as of yet, but there is good news for those who are waiting. In February, Fubo Gaming was looking forward to expanding its reach in the industry. Fubo was able to gain early market access in Louisiana, Missouri, and Mississippi through Caesars Entertainment Inc.
The agreement allows Fubo Sportsbook to operate mobile sports betting in each state pending regulatory approvals. There is still a long way to go, but this progresses to an extent.
Scott Butera, the president of Fubo Gaming, stated in a press release;
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to extend our relationship with Caesars Entertainment as we expand access to Fubo Sportsbook across key markets in the U.S.,…Mississippi, Louisiana, and Missouri all have passionate fan bases, particularly around college athletics, who will embrace our unique, immersive sports and wagering entertainment platform.”
To begin the new year, State Rep. Cedric Burnett introduced a sports betting bill that allowed those of age to place wagers on their mobile devices. However, the bill couldn’t get much support and lost steam in the committee on Feb. 1. Offering retail sports betting is a great start, but the market will most likely not grow exponentially without mobile sports betting.
