The Magnolia State has had college sports excitement well into June two years running.
In 2021, the Mississippi State Bulldogs went on a run to their first College World Series crown as NCAA Division I college baseball champions, the first such honor in school history.
Not to be outdone, in 2022 the University of Mississippi pulled off the same feat, as the Rebels also became first-time national champions in college baseball.
But the sports betting in Mississippi didn’t reflect that interest last month, dropping 41.8% from June 2021 in a year-over-year comparison.
There is no true online sports betting market in Mississippi; any bets must be placed inside physical casinos, even when customers use mobile devices.
Mississippi Sports Betting Handle Drops 14.2% From May
The June sports betting handle was $25,096,238, down 14.2% from the numbers in May ($29,233,786).
That’s typical in sports betting markets across the nation in a month with no college or NFL football.
What seems much more surprising is that the handle fell so much – about $18 million – from the $43,099,180 reported in June 2021, even though a state team was again making its run to the baseball championship in Omaha, Nebraska.
June sports betting revenue was $2,082,091, a 48.0% drop from May ($4,006,359) and down 34.8% from June 2021 ($3,194,317), according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
Mississippi Sports Betting: June vs. May
Heisman Trophy Odds 2022 in Mississippi
No player from a Mississippi school has ever won a Heisman Trophy.
But that had not stopped sportsbooks from offering odds on two in-state players, one from each member of the powerful SEC.
Incumbent Mississippi State starting quarterback Will Rogers is listed at +7000 odds for college football’s top individual honor, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. Rogers threw for 4,739 yards and 36 touchdowns in 2021 in coach Mike Leach’s pass-happy offense. But will the Bulldogs win enough to make Rogers a viable candidate?
MSU's archrival, Ole Miss, has its own quarterback with preseason hype in Southern California transfer Jaxson Dart. The new signalcaller for the Rebels is listed at +6000 odds for the Heisman, again at DraftKings.
At this point there is no legal, regulated sports betting in the state. Gaming Commission Executive Director Jay McDaniel recently talked to BetMississippi.com about the prospects of sports betting in the state.
Mississippi Casino Betting Also Declines
There was also a falloff in other forms of gaming at the state’s riverboat casinos, though not as steep as the decline in sports betting numbers.
The drop (or handle) at the state’s slot machines was $2.142 billion in June, down 7.3% from May ($2.311 billion).
As for table games, that number fell by 6.4% in a month-over-month comparison, from $169.37 million in May to $158.57 million last month.
There are 26 riverboat casinos in Mississippi, all operating either along the Mississippi River or on the Gulf of Mexico. The state also has three tribal casinos.
