Legal sports betting in Mississippi is under way, and if ESPN’s report from the first weekend of college football is any indication, it is a work in progress.
The sports network sent a reporter to several casinos in the Mississippi Delta to check out the action — or in some cases, the lack of it.
The story, which ran Monday on ESPN’s website, had enough detail to make it clear that Mississippi’s sports betting has a long way to go before it’s a big deal, the way it is in Las Vegas. Which really should be no surprise, since Vegas has a giant head start.
For example, one casino’s sportsbook had Saturday night’s Michigan-Notre Dame game on its big-screen TV. It was one of the better matchups of the day, but at halftime, the screen turned to a psychedelic pink as a group known as “the best wedding reception band in Memphis” began setting up to perform in front of it.
The few dozen patrons hanging around the bar next to the sportsbook must have been disappointed. But the action was better earlier in the day.
At one Tunica casino, ESPN reported that people from Nashville to New Orleans were in a line stretching into the hotel lobby to lay down their bets before Saturday’s 11 a.m. kickoffs. That’s a signal there’s interest in the new gambling, and a couple of people interviewed by ESPN said they were glad they finally could bet on games legally.
Other upsides to Mississippi sports betting, at least for now: One casino that gave a good bit of space to its sportsbook has 40 comfortable leather chairs in front of 14 TV screens. “Try finding a front-row leather chair for free at a Vegas book on a college football Saturday,” remarked the ESPN writer.
He also noted that the atmosphere at the sportsbooks was more relaxed compared to places in Vegas, and was impressed that Mississippi casinos don’t charge for parking.
Some of the Mississippi casinos envision Vegas-sized sportsbooks with auditorium seating. But that’s a ways down the road, since the more immediate demand is knowledgeable workers.
One of the challenges of running a sportsbook somewhere besides Vegas is that until a couple of months ago, being a bookie was a crime in the rest of the country. The sportsbook manager at one Tunica casino said some of his 15 employees needed to learn some of the most elementary aspects of the betting.
In all candor, it seems awfully risky to bet a lot of money on the achievements — or the mistakes — of 20-year-old athletes. But the public spoke on this long ago, and since Americans want sports betting, Mississippi might as well provide it.
It is easy to see the potential for extra casino customers on big sports weekends. Casinos, even in smaller markets like Tunica, are good at treating people right, and if bettors have fun, they’ll probably return.
Viewed in that light, sports betting can’t hurt Mississippi. There is no way it will have the tax revenue impact that casinos did when gambling came to the state in the 1990s, but if sportsbooks bring in a few extra visitors who buy a couple of meals and a tank of gas, the state is bound to benefit.
— Jack Ryan, Enterprise-Journal
