Mississippi rakes in $6.3m in the first month of sports betting

The US state of Mississippi has garnered a $6.3m (£4.8m/€5.4m) as sports betting revenue in its very first complete month of licensed sports betting. This is an impressive figure, but even this is likely to increase considerably when more companies start their operation in the state.

This figure would mean $644,000 in revenue for casinos and $77,000 in tax income for the state.

Baseball was the most popular sport among the gamblers, attracting $3.3m in bets in August, while punters wagered $1.4m on parlay betting and $1.3m on American football.

Mississippi went live with a legalised market on August 1 and the first month of regulation in the state saw a number of companies roll out sports betting.

Caesars Entertainment, in partnership with Scientific Games, along with MGM and Churchill Downs were among those to take bets in August.

However, MGM was the only company to be live on day one, with others not launching until later in the month, skewering the total revenue figures for August.

SBTech did not launch in Mississippi until early September while William Hill, which obtained a licence in the state last month, recently announced a link-up with Eldorado that will cover 11 states, including Mississippi.

In addition, International Game Technology last week joined forces with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in a move that will see it launch sports betting at the Pearl River Resorts’ Golden Moon Hotel & Casino and Silver Star Hotel & Casino in Choctaw, as well as the Bok Homa Casino in Sandersville.

Mississippi was some way behind New Jersey – which has also moved to legalise sports betting since the withdrawal of PASPA – in its first month.

However, Mississippi was at a disadvantage due to the fact that fewer operators were live in month one and, unlike New Jersey, it does not currently offer online or mobile sports betting.

Source: iGaming Business