A bill to legalize online sports betting and ban sweepstakes casinos died in the Mississippi Senate on Monday after failing to make it out of committee.
A version of the bill that simply included the sweepstakes ban passed earlier in the house, but Rep. Casey Eure amended the legislation to add online sports betting legalization. He said adding sports wagering to the sweepstakes ban was part of a ploy to get the state to address tidelands concerns.
Tidelands are lands lying under waters naturally subject to tidal influence. Over the last few decades, the waterfront land, specifically its borders, has been a contentious issue between private property owners and the state.
Private citizens argue that the immediate shoreline belongs to them, while the state claims it’s part of the ebb and flow of the tide, thus belonging to the public. The Supreme Court ruled on the latest dispute a year ago, claiming the borders were misdrawn and that an acre of land sitting underneath the water belonged to the Aldrich family.
Investors want to lease that land from the family for a possible casino. However, lawmakers are trying to pass a bill restricting more waterfront casinos in Biloxi. Nothing can happen until the issue is discussed and the state can figure out which land is actually theirs.
“It’s a possibility (that tidelands will not get addressed this year if the Senate does not take up mobile sports betting), but the House’s position is on mobile sports betting," Eure told the Clarion Ledger. “We’re concerned about tidelands, but at this point, it’s all about negotiating.”
The bill, however, received opposition from Senate gaming committee chair David Blount, who said he would only vote on a sports betting expansion bill at the request of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. That has yet to happen.
Sports betting is legal in Mississippi, but only at live sportsbooks. Online sports betting has been a point of contention, splitting legislators over the last few years. Blount echoed the concerns of some casinos in the state, who believe mobile betting would cannibalize casino customers.
“What some call a casino is someone’s pocket,” he told the Clarion Ledger.
Eure has argued that adding mobile betting could yield an extra $50 million for the state annually.
The sweepstakes ban was the less controversial part of the bill, as other states have similar bills circulating through legislatures.
New Jersey introduced legislation to ban the platforms, and a New York Senate committee approved similar legislation. Maryland even sent a cease-and-desist letter to one of the largest sweepstakes operators in the world.
A federal lawsuit was also recently filed against Stake.us in California.
