Deadline passes for online sports betting, tidelands legislation in MS. Here’s the latest

Mary Perez
·1 min read

Two casino bills that were destined to both pass or fail in the Mississippi Legislature died in conference Monday.

For those tracking the progress of the bills, both HB 774 online sports betting bill and Senate Bill 2780 to update to the tidelands legislation were absent from Tuesday’s list of “all measures not dead” on the Mississippi Legislature website.

That means at least another year before sports bets can be placed online in Mississippi.

HB 774, introduced by House Gaming Committee Chairman Casey Eure, passed the House but a stripped-down version was approved in the Senate to get it to conference committee.

Conferees were Eure, Jay McKnight and Hank Zuber in the House, and David Bount, Mike Thompson and Charles Younger in the Senate.

A sports book writer talks to customers at the sports book at Harrah’s Gulf Coast in Biloxi in this file photo. A bill to allow online sports betting has died in committee.
A sports book writer talks to customers at the sports book at Harrah’s Gulf Coast in Biloxi in this file photo. A bill to allow online sports betting has died in committee.

The tidelands bill passed the Senate and then drew criticism from attorneys and developers on the Coast who didn’t want to see casino sites limited on the Coast.

“I’m disappointed that the House did not agree with SB2780.,” said David Blount, chairman of the Senate Gaming Committee.

“After listening to local governments, the Senate narrowed the scope of the original bill in our final proposal,” he said. “The bill would have protected the public sand beach, the state tidelands fund (which is spent entirely on the Coast) and maintained current and consistent standards for investment to keep Mississippi a gaming destination.”

Blount,Thompson and Younger also were conferees for the Senate on the tidelands bill, along with Eure, McKnight and Brent Anderson for the House.

A rendering of the night view shows the proposed Tullis Garden Hotel in East Biloxi from a pier that is part of the project. The developer said the resort could not be built in the tidelands legislation passed.
A rendering of the night view shows the proposed Tullis Garden Hotel in East Biloxi from a pier that is part of the project. The developer said the resort could not be built in the tidelands legislation passed.