Mississippi Mobile Sports Betting and Sweepstakes Ban Bills Die Again as House–Senate Divide Persists

Mississippi’s efforts to legalize mobile sports betting while banning sweepstakes casinos have once again failed, after lawmakers did not advance the bills before a key legislative deadline, repeating a scenario that unfolded during the 2025 session.

House Bill 1581, which would have legalized mobile sports betting, and Senate Bill 2104, which sought to ban sweepstakes casinos, both failed to advance before the Legislature’s March 3 committee deadline for bills originating in the opposite chamber.

Because neither bill was reported out of committee before that deadline, both measures automatically died for the 2026 legislative session.

Sports Betting Expansion Again Stalls in the Senate

Mississippi currently allows sports betting only inside licensed casinos. HB 1581 represented the latest attempt by the Mississippi House to expand sports betting statewide.

The chamber passed the measure on Feb. 4 with an 85-31 vote, marking the third consecutive year it has advanced mobile sports betting legislation. However, as in previous sessions, the legislation was referred to a Senate committee but did not advance before the deadline.

Additional Sports Betting Measure Also Stalls

The House advanced another mobile sports betting measure, HB 4074, last week. Rep. Casey Eure is the sponsor for both measures.

As HB 1581 had stalled, Eure introduced HB 4074 with new provisions, intended to address Senate concerns. That included an increase in the tax on mobile sportsbooks, a reduction in the tax on physical casinos, and fewer licenses.

While the legislative history does not yet reflect this, as the measure did not receive a committee vote before the deadline, it appears to be dead for the 2026 session as well.

Sweepstakes Casino Ban Dies in the House

Meanwhile, the Senate passed SB 2104, which aims to prohibit online sweepstakes casinos. The Senate passed a similar measure in 2025, but it stalled in the House.

SB 2104 passed the Senate on Feb. 4 before moving to the House Gaming Committee. However, it similarly failed to advance before the March 3 deadline, resulting in the measure dying in committee.

Legislative Deadlock Mirrors 2025

The bills’ failure mirrors what occurred in Mississippi’s 2025 legislative session.

The House pushed for legalizing mobile sports betting, while Senate leadership remained resistant to expanding wagering beyond casino properties.

After the Senate rejected the House’s sports betting proposal, Rep. Eure amended the sweepstakes casino ban bill to include provisions from the failed bill. However, the Senate rejected it, effectively killing both proposals.

A similar dynamic appears to have played out again in 2026.

On the House’s side, Rep. Eure, the House Gaming Committee Chair, championed sports betting. Meanwhile, on the Senate side, Sen. David Blount, the Senate Gaming Committee Chair, co-sponsored the sweeps ban bill.

Notably, Blount has been one of the most vocal critics of mobile sports betting, arguing it would cannibalize the retail casino industry, which he sees as vital to the state.

In this year’s efforts, Eure positioned the sports betting bill as a potential funding source for the state’s underfunded Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), which has unfunded liabilities of about $26 billion.

Blount, however, questioned whether mobile sports betting could meaningfully affect the pension system’s finances.

Mississippi Gambling Debate Likely to Continue

The repeated stalemate leaves Mississippi’s gambling framework unchanged.

However, the passage of both mobile sports betting and the prohibition of sweepstakes casinos by one chamber in multiple sessions shows that lawmakers are interested in advancing the proposals.

Still, the disagreement between the House and Senate suggests lawmakers will likely need to resolve the divide between the chambers before either proposal can advance in future legislative sessions.