Quoted

Jun 13, 2018

Jeff Ifrah Quoted in Legal Sports Report on Mississippi Tribal Casinos Entering Sports Betting Market

The Mississippi sports betting market will include tribal casinos in addition to the bigger corporate players.

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians recently approved changes to its gaming commission regulations that will allow sports betting, according to a report from WTOK. Passed unanimously at a special tribal council meeting, the amendments also make room for horse racing.

Pearl River Resort and Bok Homa Casino will offer sports betting, and they might even start sooner than the state’s other operators. Proposed regulations to govern Mississippi sports betting remain in a 25-day public comment period.

Once that period ends later in June, the Mississippi Gaming Commission can consider approving the rules. Mississippi sports betting will be entirely land- and water-based, with mobile wagering allowed only within licensed casinos. It appears the regulations will be adopted at a meeting on June 21, per sources…

“Some tribes are in a great position to immediately enter the land-based sports betting market as soon as their state-licensed land-based casino competitors do so, even if authorizing legislation does not explicitly mention them,” said gaming attorney Jeff Ifrah of Ifrah Law.

Thanks to a 2017 change to Mississippi law, that is the case in the Magnolia State. Lawmakers used a bill approving daily fantasy sports in the state to repeal Mississippi’s prohibition on sports betting. While some legislators claim ignorance of the language in the bill, none are making serious efforts to stop sports betting.

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