Mississippi, Alabama Sports Betting Fate Rests in Conference Committees

Steve Roberts-USA TODAY SportsBoth Alabama and Mississippi legislators are heading to conference committees to discuss sports bettingMississippi’s conference committee will entirely focus on online sports bettingAlabama lawmakers will have to tackle sports betting, casinos, and a potential lottery in their conference

Two states that have spent months discussing sports betting legalization are now depending on conference committees to move potential legislation forward.

Both Alabama and Mississippi lawmakers have agreed to host conference committees to see if common ground can be met on their respective sports betting bills.

Mississippi representatives will only be discussing the fate of online sports betting in the state, while Alabama lawmakers will have to work out details for a bill that will potentially include the legalization of casinos, a lottery, and sports betting.

Is Mississippi the Path of Least Resistance?

Conference committees exist when either the Senate or House amends an approved bill and the originating body does not concur with its changes. The chambers can agree to a conference committee, where House and Senate representatives come together to potentially reconcile differences in the approved legislation.

Conference committee reports are then presented to both chambers and they must be voted on again.

In Mississippi, Rep. Casey Eure’s (HB 774) Mississippi Mobile Sports Wagering Act was approved by the House of Representatives in February by a 97-14 vote. A Senate committee most recently stripped the approved bill of all sports betting language as a means to “move the bill along,” according to committee chairman Sen. David Blount (D-29).

The Senate approved the bill last week by a 36-15 vote. As expected, the House did not concur with the Senate’s changes to the bill and requested a conference committee.

The original bill called for the legalized expansion of online sports betting in the Magnolia State. Online sports betting is legal in Mississippi, but only allowed on casino property.

Alabama’s situation is similar, as the House approved expansive gaming legislation in February to legalize a state lottery, casinos, and sports betting. The House approved bills HB 151 and HB 152, which called for the legalization of up to seven casinos, in-person and online sports betting, and a state lottery to support Alabama education.

Despite the approval, a Senate committee quickly dashed hopes for sports betting in the state. The Senate Tourism Committee entirely stripped sports betting from the gaming packages just three weeks later, leaving only the approval of three tribal casinos, a state lottery, and parimutuel wagering on horse and dog races at seven state tracks.

The Alabama Senate approved the legislation by a 22-11 vote in March, but this month the House did not concur with the expansive amendments and requested a conference committee for the legislation.

While both state’s have similar situations, a well-placed sports betting industry source told Sports Betting Dime they believe Mississippi has a better chance to legalize online sports betting moving forward when compared with Alabama’s chances.

“I worry I’ll jinx things, but I think Mississippi is more likely than not to happen. That is, online sports betting will be in the conference report without absurd constraints, while Alabama is 50/50,” they said.

Mississippi Bill Details

The House version of the Mississippi sports betting bill allows each of the 26 state casinos to partner with a sports betting company to offer online sports betting throughout the state. Currently, online sports betting is only legal while on casino property. The bill dedicates all online sports betting tax revenue into the state’s emergency road and bridge repair fund.

The bill includes a tiered tax system for adjusted sports betting revenue as follows:

4% of gross revenue not surpassing $50,000 per month6% of gross revenue that surpasses $50,000, but does not surpass $134,000 per month8% of gross revenue that surpasses $134,000 per month

Each operator will also have to pay an additional 4% in gross revenue into the road and bridge repair fund. Operators would have to pay a maximum of 12% in adjusted gross revenue to the state depending on their revenue each month. Based on fiscal estimates, the state could see annual sports betting tax revenues anywhere from $25 million to $35 million each year.

There are currently 26 commercial dockside and land-based casinos in Mississippi. Under this bill, each would be eligible to partner with one sports betting company to offer online sports betting in the state. However, there are no limits to how many casinos each sports betting operator can partner with. So, in theory, Mississippi could have just a handful of sports betting operators partnering with all of the casinos in the state.

Alabama Bill Details

Prior to the Senate stripping all sports betting language out of the legislation, the House-approved bills called for the establishment of an Alabama Gaming Commission to license and regulate the conduct of all sports wagering, charitable gaming activities, lotteries, and casino gaming activities in the state. The bills also created the Alabama Gaming Enforcement Division, which would have included the power to police all gaming activities in the state and “work to eradicate unlawful gaming and gaming-related activities.”

The bills taxed casinos at a rate of 24% of net gaming revenue and 95% of total gaming revenue was earmarked to the state’s Gaming Trust Fund every month. A percentage of the revenues would have been distributed among municipalities where the casinos are located.

Casino licenses would have been valid for a 15-year term. An extended initial license term could be granted by the gaming commission if the applicant proposes to make a minimum capital investment of $500 million at the proposed site. Casino license fees shall would not be less than $5 million.

Sports betting would be taxed at 17% of net gaming revenue, with 90% of the revenue allocated to the Gaming Trust Fund and 10% to be allocated among each county commission to be used “exclusively for law enforcement purposes of the respective sheriff’s department.”

A state education lottery would have also been created.