Mississippi’s anti-sweepstakes and sports betting bill collapses in committee
Efforts to regulate online gambling in Mississippi have once again collapsed. Senate Bill 2510, which aimed to ban sweepstakes casinos and legalise online sports betting, is dead.
The bill failed to emerge from the conference committee before the state’s 31 March deadline. That means neither proposal will become law this session. The Mississippi legislature is set to adjourn on 6 April, making further movement this year unlikely.
This marks the second straight year lawmakers have rejected mobile sports betting proposals. It also ends, for now, the state’s first legislative attempt to outlaw sweepstakes casinos.
SB 2510 was initially introduced to tackle illegal online gambling, with a focus on sweepstakes casinos. Introduced by Senator Joey Fillingane, it passed the Senate 51-0 in February. The bill proposed felony charges and hefty fines for unlicensed operators, including up to ten years in prison.
House amendment introduced mobile sports betting provisions
It did not originally include sports betting. But in March, House Gaming Commission Chair Casey Eure amended the bill to allow existing land-based casinos to offer mobile sports betting. The proposal allowed up to two online partners per casino and included a 12 percent tax rate.
The Senate rejected the changes. Negotiations continued behind closed doors, with lawmakers from both chambers forming a six-member conference committee. That committee failed to reach an agreement before the Monday night deadline.
David Blount, an influential voice in the Senate, refused to back the expanded version. He said he’d only back sports betting if the idea came straight from the Gaming Commission. Eure’s sports betting amendments were designed to bring new revenue to the state. There was also a plan to give six million dollars a year to smaller casinos without sportsbook deals running through to 2030.
Senate holds firm against amendments
Those sweeteners weren’t enough. The Senate stood firm, and the sports betting plan and sweepstakes ban were scrapped. Supporters of SB 2510 argue that Mississippi is losing tens of millions each year by not embracing mobile betting. Eure has previously cited estimates of lost revenue ranging from 40 million to 80 million dollars.
Land-based casinos still control legal betting, but opponents, particularly in the Senate, remain cautious. There are long-standing fears that mobile betting could harm Mississippi’s land-based casino industry. Retail casinos are still the state’s only legal outlets for sports betting.
SB 2510 would have criminalised sweepstakes operators. Now that it’s dead, regulators are left to handle things independently. Regulators can still issue cease-and-desist orders, but there’s no formal ban written into law.
It’s not just betting legislation facing pressure in Mississippi. Rep. Bryant Clark’s House Bill 361 would ban indoor smoking in public places, including casinos and riverboats.
States across the U.S. crack down on sweepstakes sites
As Mississippi waits, other states are pressing ahead. New York and Florida are among those backing new laws to crack down on sweepstakes casinos. A few have already made it through the first rounds. In New York, Senator Addabbo’s SB 5935 cleared the Gaming Committee and is now headed to the Finance Committee, and Florida’s SB 1404 has passed its first committee in the Senate. Some states have already passed one legislative chamber. Others are moving quickly toward final readings. But should the U.S. ban sweepstakes gaming?
Mississippi loses momentum in gambling reform
The collapse of SB 2510 leaves Mississippi behind the curve. The state was the first in the country to pass a full sweepstakes casino ban in one chamber. It has now failed to turn that into law, not once, but twice.
Mississippi residents can still bet legally, but only in person at licensed casinos. That remains the status quo. The wait continues for mobile sports betting and a crackdown on sweeps operators.
For now, all eyes turn to the 2026 session. Lawmakers must start again if they hope to bring online gambling regulation to Mississippi. And they will need to do it with a stronger consensus from the start.
