Mississippi anti-sweepstakes casino bill fails after online sports betting amendment

A Mississippi sweepstakes casino bill has failed after the Senate rejected it due to an amendment which included sports betting language.

Initially passed in February by a 51-0 vote, Sen. Joey Fillingane’s Senate Bill 2510 had called for increasing criminal penalties for those offering illegal online gambling in Mississippi, as well as banning sweepstakes gaming.

However, while the bill passed at first, House Representatives subsequently amended it to include online sports betting language. The addition of this amendment significantly impacted the bill, and the Senate subsequently rejected it.

Last week, SB 2510 went to a conference committee, with the senate represented by Sen. Fillingane, Sen. David Blount and Sen. Mike Thompson.

Now, the bill has officially failed after the passing of Monday’s deadline for conference committee reports, with the Mississippi legislature scheduled to adjourn on April 6.

Although sweepstakes casinos were not explicitly defined in the bill, the legislation still grouped them as unlicensed operators.

Those in violation of the bill would have faced up to ten years in prison and up to $100,000 in fines.

The bill read: “If any person shall operate an online platform that facilitates illegal wagering, such person shall be guilty of a felony. Upon each conviction, a person shall be fined in a sum not more than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), or shall be imprisoned for a term of years not to exceed ten (10) years, or by both fine and imprisonment.

“The assets, rights, and privileges used in connection with violations of the provisions of this section shall be liable to forfeiture, to the State of Mississippi or to the county in which a violation is committed.”

Also included in the House’s SB 2510 provisions was a 12% tax and up to two licenses per retail casinos.

The bill would have also established the Mobile Sports Wagering Tax Fund, directing $6m annually to support smaller retail casinos until 2030.

This particular bill may be dead in the water, which is great news for sweepstakes players using sites such as Stake.us.

But the state of Mississippi can still issue cease-and-desist letters against operators. Legal sports betting remains available in the state, but must be done via in-person wagers at brick-and-mortar casino locations.

Mississippi isn’t the only state to try and introduce anti-sweepstakes legislation recently. Arkansas, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York have also brought in bills aimed at banning sweepstakes this year.