Gambling Legislation Update, April 12: Good & Bad For MS Sports Betting
The Closing Line will aggregate efforts to legalize sports betting and online casinos (and other gambling bills) in this space on Fridays, as long as the legislative season is still active.
Mississippi
There’s good news and bad news in Mississippi for sports betting. The good: The Senate passed the bill that had been the vehicle for legalizing online sports betting before a Thursday deadline. The bad: The bill was stripped of all new language and leaves the status quo of retail sports betting and mobile sports betting on casino properties. The outcome is better than the bill dying this week after it passed the House earlier this year. However, it leaves a steep hill to climb if/when the two chambers consider sports betting in a conference committee. Stay tuned.
Minnesota
After some progress had been made toward legalizing sports betting, there’s been little movement of late. Meanwhile, media in the state continue to weigh in on whether legalization should happen (here and here).
Maryland
An effort to legalize online casinos had already faced very long odds, and it came up short as the legislature concluded its work for 2024. There is hope that discussions this year set a baseline that would improve the chances of passage in 2025 or beyond.
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Other gambling bill and regulation updates
The future of sports betting in California was a topic at the Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention.
Louisiana is banning college player prop bets.
A bill in Maryland passed that will hope to provide a more solid future for horse racing in the state, which hosts the Preakness every year.
A gambling package in Alabama continues to face long odds.
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