Mobile sports betting in Mississippi moved one step closer to happening Tuesday after a House Bill was passed by the Senate’s Gaming Committee.

Previous efforts to bring mobile sports betting to Mississippi failed to gain traction before the House passed HB 774 in February. The lower chamber sent the bill to the Senate Gaming Committee with one amendment, setting the tax rate at 12% to match the levy on retail sports betting revenue.

The Senate has until April 11 to take a floor vote on the bill. Mississippi was the third state to have sports betting following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down PASPA, launching retail wagering at casinos in August 2018. Sports betting apps are available at some venues, but online wagering can only be done on-site.

The urgency to add mobile wagering increased in recent years as three of Mississippi’s four bordering states — Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas — all legalized sports betting with mobile wagering available. Tennessee was the first all-digital state to launch in November 2020, and Louisiana started mobile betting in January 2022, two months after the state launched in-person wagering.

Arkansas, which launched operations in July 2019, added its first mobile book in March 2022 and added two others by September. Mississippi casinos saw declines in sports betting revenue (15.8%) and handle (10.8%) year-over-year for 2023. Tax revenue in the Magnolia State last year was $6.1 million, down more than $1.1 million from 2022.

In contrast, the Razorback State saw sportsbook operator revenue more than double to $37.2 million in 2023 while handle nearly tripled to $353.8 million. Arkansas collected more than $5.3 million in tax revenue from sports betting last year, an increase of over $2.8 million from 2022.

Mississippi’s drop in handle has been sharper over the first two months of 2024, down 21.7% to $76 million. Strong operator performance in parlay wagering, however, has offset that downturn as revenue is up 8.6% to $9 million compared to the first two months of 2023. Parlays have accounted for 21.5% of the handle, but 41.5% of the revenue thus far as the year-to-date hold is 22.8%.

A task force commissioned to study mobile betting released a report last December that estimated total handle could double from a live launch in 2025 through 2029 with 20% annual growth. It also cited the American Gaming Association’s “State of the States” 2023 report in which retail handle declined 7.7% in 2022 due to Louisiana’s entrance into the mobile marketplace.