Mississippi Sweeps Ban Fails
A Mississippi bill that would have banned sweepstakes casinos completely has fallen due to last-minute changes to accommodate sports betting.
Mississippi Senate Bill 2510 was essentially an anti-sweeps casino proposal, but it ‘died in conference’ after lawmakers tweaked the bill to legalize sports betting. The Senate could not agree on the effective wording before the deadline to pass the bill, and now the whole bill is dead in the water.
Sports Betting Stopped Sweeps Bill Cold
Republican Representative Casey Eure is Chair of the House Gaming Committee and has long advocated for legalized sports betting in the state. He saw this as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and amended the wording of SB2510 to help his case. That ultimately killed the bill, which is good news for the sweeps casino industry that has come under fire on a number of fronts recently.
SB2510 was originally filed by Republican Senator Joey Fillingane and would have turned operating a sweepstakes casino within the state lines into a felony with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Eure made amendments that would follow the Florida and Connecticut model, and allow land-based casinos to partner with online sportsbooks.
Senate Puts Foot Down
The bill passed the House committee with an overwhelming 83-19 majority. However, this did not sit well with the Senate, which initially rejected the bill. A conference committee from both sides was called to resolve the issues. That failed, and they could not reach an agreement before the March 31st deadline.
Many social casinos have already pulled out of Mississippi due to the hostile environment and pending legislation. High 5, Stake.us, McLuck, and Pulsz Casino are just a few of the high-profile sweeps casinos to block the state, but we’ll keep an eye on their reaction to this latest news. Could the big names be tempted to lift their self-posed exile?
