The state of Mississippi is not known as one of the biggest sports betting markets in the United States, but January proved to be a great month. January’s total sports betting handle was $67.7 million, eclipsing the previous record that was set in October 2020 by nearly $6.5 million.
The $67.7 million brought in during January was a 22.4% increase over the December total and has the state off to a great start in 2021. The January 2021 total was also a near 50% increase over the January 2020 totals.
Sports betting revenue also saw a huge boost during the month of January in Mississippi. The sportsbooks in the state brought in more than $9.1 million, which was the second-highest total of all time.
Revenue nearly doubled from the January 2020 total, providing another example of just how much the market has come.
Mobile Betting Not Coming Soon
Mobile betting is available in the state of Mississippi, but all of the bets must be placed on retail sports betting property. This severely limits the betting options for most customers in the state and has an impact on the overall sports betting handle.
A pair of bills were introduced in the Senate earlier this year, and those bills were seeking to expand the online gambling options. Both bills failed to make it out of committee, leaving not much optimism of any real changes coming this year.
Mississippi has some very progressive gambling laws, but unfortunately, mobile betting has not yet been included. This is a big win for retail sportsbooks in the state, but the state will be unable to grow without online options.
Overall Gaming Numbers Bring Mixed Results
Mississippi has a very strong gambling industry, and the slots saw an increase in revenue and the total amount wagered in January. More than $2 billion was brought in during the month of January on slots, which represented an increase of more than 12 percent.
Table games also brought an increase in revenue from December, but it was actually a large decrease from January 2020. In January 2020, table games brought in over $153.4 million in revenue.
While most of the country has seen sports betting become the most popular form of betting, that is simply not the case in the state of Mississippi.
Louisiana Looking to Launch
The fact that Tennessee now has online sports betting is expected to start hurting the Mississippi numbers in the long run. Tennessee launched sports betting on Nov. 1, and the state has been extremely successful since that time.
Another neighboring state, Louisiana, has also legalized sports betting, which could pose another big threat to Mississippi. Lousiana voters approved sports betting in nearly every parish last November, but the state legislature is still working on creating rules and regulations to govern the industry.
If Mississippi is not able to legalize mobile sports betting soon, the overall growth of the market could take a huge hit in the coming months.
