The Mississippi Senate’s landmark push to ban sweeps may be under threat from sports betting language that has been shoehorned into the bill.
Last month, a version of Sen. Joey Fillingane’s SB 2510, which would prohibit online sweeps and increase punishments for offshore online casinos operating in the state, passed by a 44-1 vote on the Senate floor.
In doing so, the Mississippi Senate became the first US legislative chamber to approve a ban on the vertical, which has faced intensifying regulatory scrutiny across the US.
However, following the Senate Gaming Committee stifling a House-approved bill on the introduction of sports betting to the state, Rep. Casey Eure has shoehorned sports betting language to SB 2510.
The bill’s amended language now states that “online sports pools and online race books are legal in the State of Mississippi”, provided that their legalisation does not authorise any other forms of interactive gaming.
Mississippi’s commercial casinos would be able to partner with up to two online sportsbooks each and offer sports betting that would be taxed at 12%.
Eure has added similar amendments to the agenda of SB 2381, which proposes a change to a land leasing issue relevant to retail casinos.
Sweeps bill under threat
The push to tag sports betting onto SB 2510 has been met with backlash among Senate representatives in the state who have voiced concerns about the potential cannibalisation of retail traffic as well as doubt over the economic benefit of online sports betting.
Sen. David Blount, co-author of SB 2510 and a consistent opponent of online sports betting, said: “I don’t think legislation should be something that’s traded. I think each bill should be looked at on its own merits.
“If you think it’s a good bill, you should pass it, and if you think it’s a bad bill, certainly you have every right to oppose it, but to link bills together when the topics that are not related to each other, to me, is not the way the legislature should work.”
Although referring to SB 2381, it is hard not to argue that Blount’s objections could also ring true for the bill to ban sweeps.
Sweeps face uncertainty in the US
Mississipi’s push to ban sweepstakes casinos mirrors regulatory efforts across the US in relation to the vertical, as lawmakers in Connecticut and Maryland have also introduced bills this year to ban sweeps.
House and Senate bills introduced to tackle illegal gambling in Florida also appear to include sweepstakes casinos through their wording, defining internet gaming using phrases such as “money or other thing of value”, which could include the dual-currency play utilised by sweepstakes and social casinos.
Providing his statement to the floor, Fillingane emphasised that the Mississippi bill aims to intensify sanctions for unlicensed operators in the state, citing the likes of Bovada, Chumba, MyBookie and BetUS.
He stated: “One of the major problems is that many Mississippians have no idea when they’re on their device that they’re even breaking the law because it looks completely legitimate.”
SB 2510 seeks to change the Mississippi Code of 1972 and implement a statewide ban on sweepstakes gambling platforms. Before Eure’s amendments, the bill had passed through multiple Senate committees and been approved by Eure’s House committee.
