Mississippi Sports Betting — Best MS Sportsbooks
Published on 24 Jul 2020
Mississippi became one of the pioneers of the sports betting industry in the United States. As soon as the PASPA law was repealed, the Magnolia state has become home to big sports betting brands, already famous in New Jersey and other online gambling states. Mississippi sports betting became legal in May 2018 in all its forms including online wagers. However, there are nuances when it comes to placing bets online, and we’ll speak of them all in this review.
Latest News About Sports Betting in Mississippi
Today, Mississippi remains a retail-only betting state. It means that there are no bills that control mobile and online betting. So, you can just sign up to a sportsbook and place wagers from your mobile when at home. Still, you have an alternative option: you can visit one of the retail casinos and place mobile wagers there. It’s not of course what a bettor may expect when they want to enjoy online sports betting, but that’s the case.
Will things change in the nearest future? The situation remains very unclear. When Mississippi legalized betting in 2018, the neighboring states did not have any similar facilities, so the Magnolia state was a gambling destination for many people from Louisiana.
However, things changed in 2022, when LA became home to six online bookmakers: Barstool, BetMGM, BetRivers, Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel.
Local casinos are not so popular and busy now, and it becomes a serious hurdle for creating online and mobile sports betting facilities. The latest attempt to legalize the mobile betting bills failed. The opposition from brick-and-mortar casinos that might obviously lose much of a revenue prevented the bills from approving, so there is no hope that things will change in 2022.
So, the only option to place online sports bets in Mississippi is to arrive to a land-based sportsbook and wager from a mobile phone while being there. It seems pretty odd of course, so most people prefer betting in-person.
Expected Volume of the Betting Market and Tax Rates in Mississippi
The total revenue of the MS sports betting collected from all legal sportsbook since launch is $1,631,459,045 in total handle. All bookies and casinos pay a 12% tax. The latest revenue updates include a significant decrease in February and a sudden recovery in March 2022. Although many US sports betting sites profited much from NFL Super Bowl wagers in the mid-winter, the MS revenue was the lowest since August 2021.
However, things became much better the next month, with a $4 million collected revenue.
How Mississippi Sports Betting is Regulated
Sports betting and other gambling activities are regulated by the Mississippi Gaming Commission. It controls everything related to casinos and bookmakers. For instance, it is responsible for fair gaming when you play slots or table games: you can be sure that a licensed casino has hi-end software with fraud.
Is Sports Betting Legal in Mississippi —Legalization Route
So, sports betting is legal in Mississippi with some nuances you already know. How long did it take the Magnolia state to legalize gambling? The story started in 1990, when the Mississippi Gambling Commission was opened. It was the year when the first dockside casino was opened, and a year later, Mississippi opened the first bingo hall. In 2017, the state partly repealed the ban on sports betting, and in 2018 It was finally legalized. In 2022, the house member Cedric Burnett introduced H.B. 184: a bill that was supposed to allow mobile betting everywhere in the state, not only in retail shops. Still, the bill failed and the regulations remained the same.
Mississippi Compares to Other States
Unlike many states that willingly welcome online betting brands, Mississippi remains a remote-only betting state. In some US regions, you need to come to a sportsbook in person to create a mobile betting account; the others allow to do it from anywhere within the state.
Mississippi has not made this step yet and only allows gambling in person or via a mobile phone when you are physically in a registered casino.
Still, like in other states, Mississippi doesn’t strictly ban offshore website. It is stated that you can’t legally use foreign online sports betting sites at the Mississippi Gambling Commission page, but there’s no punishment for it, though.
The legal gambling age is 21 in MS; it’s similar to many other states, while some allow sports wagers and casino gaming from 18.
How to Start Online Sports Betting in Mississippi?
In short, the only option to start online betting in MS is to come to a casino that has a mobile gambling license and can offer you to bet via an app. It’s not every single casino: only a few places can boast having mobile gambling facilities. So, you can visit the following casinos to place mobile wagers:
- Beau Rivage: playMGM
- Grand Sierra: William Hill
- Gold Strike: playMGM
- Sam’s Town: playMGM
- Boomtown Casino: Penn National
- Scarlet Pearl: DraftKings Sportsbook
- Silver Star: PRR Sports
Besides, you can sign up to offshore online sports betting sites and play from anywhere in the state. They also offer online casino games, and sometimes poker rooms, so it might be a very lucrative option for MS bettors who wager regularly and don’t want to come to some brick-and-mortar casino every couple of days.
Best Mississippi Sportsbooks
| Sportsbook | Year Established | Minimum deposit |
|---|---|---|
| BetOnline | 2004 | $10-$50 |
| BetUS | 1994 | $10 |
| Bovada | 2011 | $10-$50 |
| MyBookie | 2014 | $25 |
| SportsBetting.ag | 1999 | $10 |
| XBet | 2007 | $20 |
Features and Betting Opportunities in Mississippi
Although Mississippi sports betting market is different than in other states that legalized wagering, it’s still very promising. The fate of mobile and online gambling is still vague, and we’ll have to wait for one more year to see if there are any changes in legislation. However, the market has already shown very nice perspectives for the future — even without mobile and online betting options.
Mississippi Sports Betting Market
It was pretty clear that sports betting will be a profitable thing in Mississippi even before its legalization in 2018.
The studies showed that only in-person handle would easily exceed $170 million per year, and it was right.
The first year showed a $150 million revenue coming from sports bets, and it’s not even for 12 months, but from September to December. So, the first year resulted in $300 million of revenue in sports wagers for retail sportsbooks, while the state has collected more than $5 million from the 8% gambling tax.
So, there’s no wonder that local brick-and-mortar casinos perform against legalization of mobile betting. Although some of them could cooperate with some mobile gambling brands to expand the services, most don’t suppose it will be profitable both for them and for the state.
What Types of Bets are Available at Mississippi?
Mississippi offline sportsbooks don’t have any limitations in bets — at least, by the law. The Gambling Commission allows you to wager on almost anything, including college sports — but without prop betting, like in most other states. So, single bets, parlays, teasers, and a variety of markets from moneylines to Asian handicaps are at your disposal at brick-and-mortar betting shops.
Betting on Horse Races
Horse racing betting has the same rules as betting on any other sport in Mississippi. You can only wager on horses in-person, so there is no online racebook currently available. Good news is that horse racing markets are widely offered in various offshore bookies: we showed you some of them here in this review.
How do We Rate a Mississippi Sportsbook?
As Mississippi doesn’t have local legal sports betting shops and apps licensed by the local Gambling Commission, we had no other way out but suggest you to stick to offshore bookmakers for now. If things change, we will show you the other options, too.
So, things become a bit challenging: we had to prepare a list of bookies that we can safely recommend as offshore sports betting can be risky. You can’t go to your local authority and complain about a scam you faced at a foreign website: nobody can protect you if a sports betting site operates in another jurisdiction. So, we collected the best offshore bookmakers to show to you, and will tell you how we did it.
License and legality in Mississipi State
So, you already know there are no legal online sportsbooks that you can use at home in MS. However, offshore betting is not illegal — not recommended, though. However, such a bookie still must have a gambling license, for instance, Isle of Man or Curacao. If it doesn’t, there is a much larger possibility to come across some fraud. Take your time to double check the license and of course real users reviews.
Reputation
Speaking about reviews, try to read as many as possible — like we do. Besides, you can check various independent platforms to see if a sports betting site is reliable or not.
For instance, we at SuperBetting have a plethora of useful reviews with our unbiased opinion of different online betting sites.
If we find out a sportsbook is a scam, we clearly let you know.
Available Betting Markets
The quality of a sportsbook is mainly expressed by its betting odds and available wagering options. Check out a sports betting site covers many sports and offers different bets: not only moneylines and spreads. Besides, it might be not the best option to choose a bookmaker with 10-15 sports: there are plenty of sites offering more than 50 disciplines, including eSports, and various exotic disciplines like, say, lacrosse. Also mind the events coverage: for instance, a good bookie will offer you no less than 30 soccer leagues, and the best one will offer such wagering options like NFL drafts or Canadian sports leagues.
Betting Odds and Lines
The odds of course matter. Even if you are not a pro bettor and wager for fun only, you still want to get a better price than anyone can offer. So, shop the lines and compare the offers.
Who knows, probably a market you want to wager on is offered as a boosted odds promo at another betting site?
Or a sportsbook gives a special insurance for wagers on your fav team? The average margin should exceed 5% or 6%; there are many offers for NFL, NBA, and NHL with margin less than 4%, so don’t rush to the first bookie you come across.
Bonuses at Mississippi Sports Betting Sites
Bonuses at Mississippi sports betting sites can vary, but the main one, the first deposit bonus, is similar at various sites. Before you claim it, mind the wagering requirements and think twice if they are too high. We collected the bookies with the best bonuses that have fair terms and don’t require too much.
| Sportsbook | Bonus Type | Bonus Amount |
|---|---|---|
| BetOnline | First Deposit Bonus | Up to $1,000 |
| BetUS | Free Bet | Up to $1,250 |
| Bovada | First Deposit Bonus | Up to $1,000 |
| MyBookie | First Deposit Bonus | Up to $1,000 |
| SportsBetting.ag | First Deposit Bonus | Up to $1,000 |
Mobile Wagering Availability
Most offshore bookies don’t have apps, and it’s pretty reasonable because of the derestriction’s. However, most foreign online betting sites targeting the USA have very convenient mobile versions you can use. Besides, some gambling brands cooperate with local casinos so you can use their apps when you are there.
Best MS Betting Apps
| Sportsbook | iOS app | Android app | Available in Mississippi |
|---|---|---|---|
| DraftKings | Yes | Yes | In partner casinos |
| BetMGM | Yes | Yes | In partner casinos |
| FanDuel | Yes | Yes | In partner casinos |
Live Betting Options
Live betting is fun and if you agree, you need to check out the in-play options at your new sports betting site. Is it good enough? Does it have nice odds and accepts bets quickly? Are there daily events or probably some extra options like live streaming or cash out or live match center? It all matters when you wager in-play, so make sure you have everything you need to place live bets.
Professional Teams from Mississippi That You Can Bet on
Mississippi doesn’t have its own pro teams. However, locals willingly support the New Orleans Saints, the NFL franchise from the neighboring Louisiana. Besides, MS has a strong presence of college sports.
Ole Miss Rebels. One of the most popular teams of the Magnolia State is the one from the football college leagues.
It keeps showing impressive results with three national championships in its history. Many players from the Rebels become the NFL picks and turn into the top players of the league. Remember Archie and Eli Manning?
The Rebels also perform at the NCAA basketball league; however, it’s not the same outstanding. The best result of the NCCAb Rebels team is to reach the March Madness tournament several times.
Mississippi State Bulldogs. Unlike the Rebels, the Bulldogs are superior in basketball and regularly raise players for the NBA. They were the strongest in the last century but still regularly reach the March Madness tournament. The Bulldogs NCAAF team is not very strong, though.
Fantasy Sports
Fantasy Sports is legal in Mississippi — just like in all the other states.
However, the main MS sportsbook for Fantasy sports is not Fanduel or Draftkings.
You can manage your fantasy team online via a Monkey Knife Fight. At the moment, Daily Fantasy Sports are the only form of the online wag reering available in MS and regulated by the Mississippi Gambling Commission.
Conclusion
Mississipi has very special rules on sports betting. Being a very promising market, it can either decrease or boost its profits with mobile sports betting. As there are no online facilities for wagering on sports online from anywhere in the state, Mississippi is probably losing significant amount of revenues in wagers that could result in great tax revenues for the state’s commonwealth. However, the situation is really interesting to watch, so we will keep you updated.
FAQ
Mississippi now allows retail sports betting at legal casinos. Besides, some of them allow sports betting via a mobile app if you are physically located in one of such casinos.
Almost all of them, but if you want to wager on horses online, visit the following casinos: Beau Rivage: playMGM, Grand Sierra: William Hill, Gold Strike: playMGM, Sam’s Town: playMGM, Boomtown Casino: Penn National, Scarlet Pearl: DraftKings Sportsbook, Silver Star: PRR Sports.
Many of them were approved to offer wagers on sports. However, not all of the approved casinos have mobile and retail betting facilities for now. So, here are the ones that are ready to accept bets: Beau Rivage: playMGM, Grand Sierra: William Hill, Gold Strike: playMGM, Sam’s Town: playMGM, Boomtown Casino: Penn National, Scarlet Pearl: DraftKings Sportsbook, Silver Star: PRR Sports.
You can come to a brick-and-mortar sportsbook and place in-person bets. Alternatively, you can visit some casinos allowing to bet via mobile apps when you are located in these casinos.
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