A Mississippi bill designed to make sweepstakes gaming illegal cleared the first legislative hurdle. The state’s Senate easily passed SB 2510 by a vote of 44-1 Tuesday. The legislation is expected to head to the House of Representatives.
Opponents entered a motion to reconsider, but no other details were listed with the filing, and the version the Senate passed was amended.
Sen. Joey Fillingane introduced the bill last month, hoping to add prohibiting online sweepstakes-style casino games to a gaming statute that already bans brick-and-mortar sweepstakes cafes. The proposal also includes the violation to increase from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Penalties include a $100,000 fine and/or up to a 10-year prison sentence “in the discretion of the court,” as well as forfeiture of “rights and privileges used in connection with violations” of the amended law. If passed by the House and signed into law, the bill goes into effect July 1.
Hot topic
Several other states are looking into the controversial sweepstakes, or social, gaming, which mimics online casinos and sportsbooks but offers players coins to play. Users can purchase more virtual currency with cash and exchange it for cash and prizes, which anti-sweepstakes groups see as an illegal form of gaming.
Connecticut and Maryland lawmakers have filed sweepstakes-banning bills, which are close to being discussed. New Jersey and New York are also considering regulating or cracking down on these social casinos and sportsbooks.
Sweepstakes gaming operators aren’t taxed and regulated like legal books and online casinos such as FanDuel or DraftKings. The American Gaming Association and the Indian Gaming Association both called for regulators and state attorneys general to crack down on companies that offer online sweepstakes games.
The other gaming bill
Gaming is a big topic in the Magnolia State this legislative session. Lawmakers are also trying to legalize statewide online sports betting. Retail sportsbooks began operating in Mississippi a few months after the Supreme Court overturned PASPA in 2018, but customers can only place mobile wagers at an in-person casino.
Last week, Mississippi’s House passed HB 1302, authorizing online sportsbooks and racebooks to partner with brick-and-mortar casinos. Similar legislation passed last year but stalled in the Senate, a hurdle HB 1302 looks to clear in 2025.
