Mississippi Sports Betting

The first Mississippi sportsbooks launched shortly after the Supreme Court ended the federal sports betting prohibition. Today, fans 21 and older can visit more than two dozen sportsbooks at casinos across the state.

State law only permits online sports betting in Mississippi to the extent that guests may place wagers from their mobile devices while located on casino property. However, lawmakers have introduced several Mississippi online sports betting bills in recent years to change the law and grant licenses to qualified operators.

Based on recent developments, the odds seem to favor legalization sooner rather than later.

Legal Mississippi Betting Sites

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Until Mississippi legalizes online sports betting, daily fantasy sports contests will continue serving as the closest alternative. All major daily fantasy sites offer their services to residents, and the Mississippi Gaming Commission (MGC) oversees licensed operators to ensure they treat customers fairly.

Mississippi Sports Betting Basics

The first Mississippi sportsbooks opened in August 2018, and many more have opened since. There are nearly 30 sportsbooks in operation, all licensed and regulated by the MGC or local tribal authorities.

Key things to know about Mississippi sports betting:

  • Minimum age of 21 to participate
  • Bettors must visit licensed sportsbooks and place wagers in person
  • Mississippi does not have legal online sports betting
  • Guests may only place mobile wagers when physically located on casino property

Mississippi Sports Betting Apps

Mobile sports betting is available to a limited extent in Mississippi. Under current laws, retail sportsbooks may offer online sports betting to customers who are physically located on casino property.

BetMGM Mississippi App

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The BetMGM Mississippi app allows customers to place wagers from anywhere inside Beau Rivage Casino (Biloxi), excluding the hotel tower and parking lot.

Bettors can download the BetMGM Sportsbook app from anywhere in Mississippi, but they can only place wagers when physically present on casino property.

Caesars Sportsbook Mississippi App

Caesars Entertainment owns and operates Harrah’s Gulf Coast in Biloxi, which has a Caesars-branded retail sportsbook located just off the casino floor. Fans can visit the sportsbook to place wagers via live betting windows, self-serve kiosks, or the Caesars Sportsbook app.

Fans must be located on casino property to place real-money wagers through the Caesars Sportsbook Mississippi app, but they can sign up, deposit, and withdraw from anywhere in the state.

Will Mississippi Legalize Statewide Mobile Betting?

The odds of Mississippi legalizing full-fledged online sports betting are favorable over the near-to-medium term. In the meantime, bettors must visit land-based casinos to place wagers in person or through mobile apps while located on casino property.

The latest effort to legalize online sports betting in Mississippi emerged from the House in 2024 via HB 774. Also known as the MS Mobile Sports Wagering Act, HB 774 would legalize online betting under these parameters:

  • Mississippi casinos may partner with third-party operators like FanDuel and DraftKings to offer online sports betting, online horse racing betting, or both
  • Licensed Mississippi sports betting sites would pay a 12% tax on revenue
  • Establish a minimum age of 21 to bet on sports online in Mississippi

HB 477 passed the House on a vote of 98-14 and moved to the Senate. The Senate Gaming Committee attached a strike-all amendment to the bill, essentially stripping it of all online sports betting provisions, to give lawmakers more time to negotiate the bill’s specifics amid rapidly approaching deadlines.

Lawmakers have introduced more than a dozen Mississippi online sports betting bills since 2020.

The various bills introduced so far in Mississippi are largely similar, with only minor differences in the details. For example, one bill expressly permitted wagers on esports events, while another would have required customers to register online betting accounts in-person at land-based casinos.

Every MS sports betting bill introduced to date has died early in the legislative process, but it’s clear there is a strong desire among some in the legislature to legalize online wagering.

And with online sports betting available in neighboring states, pressure will continue to mount for Mississippi to join the party.

Although Mississippi has thus far been unable to get anything past the finish line, numerous online sportsbooks have everything in place to launch mobile betting should lawmakers pass a bill into law.

Brands such as FanDuel and BetMGM already manage retail sportsbooks across the state, and some have licensing agreements with local casinos for access to the Mississippi online sports betting market (most states require online sportsbook operators to partner with local casinos for market access).

Mississippi Sports Betting Locations

Biloxi Sportsbooks

  • BetMGM Sportsbook at Beau Rivage
  • Caesars Sportsbook at Harrah’s Gulf Coast
  • Bally Bet Sportsbook at Hardrock Casino
  • DraftKings Sportsbook at Golden Nugget Biloxi
  • FanDuel Sportsbook at IP Casino Resort
  • The Sportsbook at Boomtown Casino
  • CONTACT Race and Sportsbook at Palace Casino
  • Treasure Bay Sportsbook
  • Scarlet Pearl Sportsbook

Tunica Sportsbooks

  • DraftKings Sportsbook at Gold Strike Casino
  • Caesars Sportsbook at Horseshoe Casino
  • FanDuel Sportsbook at Sams Town Casino
  • The Sportsbook at 1st Jackpot
  • The Sportsbook at Fitz Casino
  • The Sportsbook at Hollywood Casino

Vicksburg Sportsbooks

  • End Zone at Ameristar Casino
  • VB Sportsbook at Bally’s Casino
  • River Walk Casino Sportsbook
  • Waterview Sportsbook

Chocktaw Sportsbooks

  • Sportsbook at Timeout Lounge Golden Moon Casino
  • Silver Star Casino
  • Bok Homa Casino

Note: The sportsbook app for all three Pearl River Resort casinos above is prrsports.com

Greenville Sportsbooks

  • Caesars Sportsbook at Tropicana Casino
  • Harlow’s Casino Sportsbook

Gulfport Sportsbooks

  • Bet the V Sportsbook at Island View Casino

Bay St. Louis Sportsbooks

  • The Sportsbook at Hollywood Gulf Coast
  • Slipper Sportsbook at Silver Slipper Casino

Other Mississippi Sportsbooks

  • Caesars Sportsbook at Isle of Capri Casino (Lula)
  • Playmakers Sportsbook at Magnolia Bluffs Casino (Natchez)

How Mississippi Legalized Sports Betting

Legal sports betting came to Mississippi over two phases between 2017 and 2018. A fantasy sports bill passed in 2017 quietly legalized sports betting by including language repealing the state’s ban on sports betting.

The fantasy sports bill passed, but not without controversy. A faction of lawmakers opposed to sports betting realized they had unwittingly signed onto the legalization of sports betting and introduced a bill to reinstate the ban. However, that effort failed to gain traction, and sports betting has been legal in MS since.

The Supreme Court cleared the way for casinos to take advantage of the law by striking down PASPA, the federal law that prohibited sports betting in most states. The MGC approved regulations two months later to give casinos a path to launching retail sportsbooks.

Under the rules approved by the MGC, casinos may accept sports wagers after submitting an application to the MGC and receiving the approval of its Executive Director.

Mississippi Daily Fantasy Sports

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Daily fantasy sports sites are legal in Mississippi and are regulated by the MGC.

Fantasy operators that serve more than 100 members of the public in any single calendar year must acquire MGC licenses, which involves passing an investigation and submitting to annual compliance audits.

In 2016, all fantasy sites temporarily exited the Mississippi market after the Attorney General issued an opinion stating that fantasy sports contests constitute illegal gambling. However, they returned later that year after lawmakers passed new legislation legalizing fantasy sports.

In 2016, the state legislature passed SB 2541 and sent it to the governor’s office. The governor signed off on the bill and invited fantasy sites back to Mississippi beginning July 1st, 2016.

SB 2541 was a temporary bill designed to expire after one year. During that time, lawmakers formed a task force to study the industry and propose a more permanent legal framework in Mississippi.

Regulations in the temporary bill included:

  • Anyone who hosts a real money fantasy contest for 100 or more members of the general public is considered an operator and must adhere to all regulations
  • The value of all prizes must be made known in advance of any fantasy contest
  • Winning outcomes are not based on the score, point spread, or individual performance of any one athlete or one team
  • Prevent employees and relatives of employees from competing in real money contests anywhere
  • Prevent sharing of “inside information”
  • Offer self-exclusion programs for customers
  • Verify all customers are 18 or older
  • Disclose the number of entries a player may submit to each contest and employ measures to ensure players do not enter more than the maximum allowed number of entries

In March 2017, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed a new bill establishing a permanent framework to regulate daily fantasy sports. House Bill 967 kept all regulations from the temporary bill and added a few additional provisions.

New regulations adopted by HB 967 included the prohibition of third-party scripts used by players to gain an advantage in DFS contests, enforcing maximum numbers of entries players may enter into any single contest, and identifying highly experienced players with symbols visible to all other players.

Mississippi fantasy sports law defines “highly experienced players” as players who have entered more than 1,000 contests or won more than three individual prizes each worth $1,000 or more.

The new legislation requires operators to limit the number of entries into contests according to the following rules:

  • Contests open to 12 or fewer players: one entry per person
  • Contests open to more than 12 but fewer than 37 players: maximum of two entries per person
  • Contests open to more than 37 but no more than 100 players: maximum of three entries per person
  • Contest open to more than 100 players: Each player may purchase no more than 3% of all total entries or 150 entries (whichever number is smaller)

However, the law does allow fantasy sites to host contests with unlimited entries, provided those contests have entry fees of $50 or higher, and the total number of unlimited-entry contests comprise less than 2% of all contests offered by that site.

The regulation of daily fantasy sports in Mississippi now falls under the Mississippi Gaming Commission. The MGC may also adopt additional rules as needed.

Licensing fees for DFS operators are $5,000, and licenses are good for three years. Additionally, sites are now on the hook for an 8% tax applied to net revenue earned in Mississippi.

Most pick’em fantasy sports sites do not operate in Mississippi due to stringent rules regarding prediction-style contests. The one exception is Underdog Fantasy, which holds an MGC license and is one of the nation’s most prominent pick’em fantasy brands.

The legality of pick’em fantasy sports contests is uncertain in numerous states, but the MGC addressed the issue in Mississippi through an advisory it sent to all licensed operators in October 2023.

The advisory explained that the MGC wished to clarify the rules regarding pick’em fantasy sports contests in response to “questions raised” about their legality in Mississippi. The MGC notice did not declare fantasy pick’em contests illegal or address any operators by name, but it did clarify three points:

  1. Fantasy sports sites licensed in Mississippi may not offer contests played against the house
  2. Operators may not offer contests in which players compare the statistical results of one athlete against another athlete or groups of athletes (e.g., a contest may not ask players to predict whether Athlete A or Athlete B will have more rushing yards). Every contest must ask the player to choose at least two athletes to compare against at least two other athletes.
  3. Operators may not offer contests that are determined by a single stat; there must be multiple statistical results to accumulate.

Underdog Fantasy responded one month later by introducing peer-to-peer pick’em games called Pick’em Champions. These contests function like standard pick’em games, except players compete with one another for payouts rather than against the house. The players with the greatest number of accurate predictions either win the full prize pool or split it equally with anyone else who got the same number of predictions right.

Mississippi Horse Racing Betting

Mississippi lacks a pari-mutuel racing industry, but horse racing betting is now legal at licensed sportsbooks.

Although it has an entrenched gambling industry, Mississippi never got around to legalizing pari-mutuel wagering at race tracks or OTBs. Legal horse racing betting only materialized after Mississippi officials adopted sports betting regulations in 2018.

Where To Bet On Horse Races In MS

In 2019, Palace Casino Resort in Biloxi became the first casino to offer pari-mutuel betting on races held around the country.

Palace Casino conducts horse racing betting in the pari-mutuel format, which means customers’ wagers are intermingled with the bets visitors place in-person at each track. Additional casinos later confirmed plans to add horse racing betting to their menus.

Mississippi Online Horse Racing Betting

Online horse racing betting is illegal in Mississippi. Licensed sportsbooks may only offer horse racing betting in person. To this day, state law prohibits advance deposit wagering websites from providing their services to Mississippi residents.

Currently, the best prospects for legalizing online horse racing betting in Mississippi reside with sports betting legislation that also legalizes online racebooks. Lawmakers have considered several such bills, and the odds seem to be increasing that one of those efforts will eventually succeed.

Mississippi Online Gambling

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Online gambling is illegal under Mississippi law. Online sports betting, online casinos, and poker sites are all outlawed in Mississippi. Daily fantasy sports and sweepstakes casinos remain the closest approximation to actual online gambling currently.

MS Code § 97-33-1 plainly and thoroughly outlaws participation in all forms of gambling that does not take place at a licensed facility:

Except as otherwise provided in Section 97-33-8, if any person shall encourage, promote or play at any game, play or amusement, other than a fight or fighting match between dogs, for money or other valuable thing, or shall wager or bet, promote or encourage the wagering or betting of any money or other valuable things, upon any game, play, amusement, cockfight, Indian ball play or duel, other than a fight or fighting match between dogs, or upon the result of any election, event or contingency whatever, upon conviction thereof, he shall be fined in a sum not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00); and, unless such fine and costs be immediately paid, shall be imprisoned for any period not more than ninety (90) days….

MS Code § 97-33-5 takes it one step further than most states by imposing additional fines on individuals convicted of illegal gambling equal to the amount of money won:

In a prosecution for gambling or gaming, in addition to penalties elsewhere provided, the jury shall find the amount won, and it shall be the duty of the court to enter judgment against the winning party for the amount so won, to be collected and paid over as fines.

Additional state laws make it a crime to host games of poker or allow poker games to take place on one’s property. One provision even calls for fines on people who witness illegal poker games and fail to report them to the authorities.

The Mississippi Gaming Commission offers further clarification on an FAQ page that addresses online gambling:

Is internet gambling legal?

No. Internet gambling is illegal under state law.

Online sites may advertise they are “legal” and “licensed” forms of gaming. They may be legal or licensed where the bets are received, but it is illegal to place bets from Mississippi with these businesses.

Lawmakers have mounted several efforts to legalize online gambling in Mississippi, but they have had no luck to date. Representatives introduced legislation to establish the Mississippi Lawful Internet Gaming Act in four successive years from 2012 to 2015, but their bills died in committee every time.

Mississippi Lottery

The first Mississippi Lottery games launched in 2019, making it a relatively new entrant on the national stage.

There’s no way to buy Mississippi Lottery tickets online, but that can easily change, especially as lawmakers nationwide look for ways to generate revenue without raising taxes.

Read more about the Mississippi Lottery online here:

Mississippi Sports Betting FAQ

No. Mississippi has only legalized retail sports betting via sportsbooks at licensed casinos. Mississippi online sports betting is limited to customers placing wagers via mobile apps while located on casino grounds.

Fans can bet on sports at retail sportsbooks at most casinos. Scroll up on this page for a complete list of Mississippi sportsbooks.

Legal Mississippi betting apps may only accept wagers from customers located on casino property. If a retail sportsbook offers a mobile sports betting app, guests can download it and place wagers from anywhere within the casino to skip the line at the ticket window.

State law enforces a minimum age of 21 to bet on sports.

Yes. Fans may bet on college sports in Mississippi, but sportsbooks may not offer proposition wagers on individual university athletes. Some states prohibit sportsbooks from offering bets on local colleges, but Mississippi bettors do not face any such limitations.

Not yet. Mississippi law does not directly address esports, but the Gaming Commission has not yet added esports betting to its catalog of events approved for wagering.

The Mississippi Gaming Commission is responsible for issuing sports betting licenses, adopting regulations as needed, approving events for wagering, and overseeing the conduct of sportsbooks.

No. Visitors and guests alike may visit Mississippi sportsbooks and place wagers.

Anyone with questions or concerns regarding problem gambling can contact the Mississippi Council on Problem and Compulsive Gambling for assistance. Patrons may also pick up a self-exclusion request form from any casino to exclude themselves from all Mississippi casinos for five years, ten years, or a lifetime.

Mississippi sports betting began at noon on August 1st, 2018, at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino and Gold Strike Casino. Many additional sportsbooks have opened since.

Mississippi sports betting apps will likely become a reality sooner or later. Lawmakers have shown interest in legalizing online sports betting for several years running, and it seems to be just a matter of time before they reach an agreement on how to regulate it.

Yes. Some casinos offer simulcast horse racing betting at their sportsbooks. However, online horse racing betting is prohibited in Mississippi.