A supreme court ruling is going to allow sports fans to place bets in Mississippi. MPB's Ashley Norwood reports.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down a federal law that barred gambling on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states, clearing the way for Mississippi casinos to move forward.
Geoff Freeman is the president of the American Gaming Association.
"Through smart efficient regulation, this new market will protect consumers, preserve the integrity of the games we love, empower law enforcement to fight illegal gambling, and generate new revenue," said Freeman.
Freeman expects the expansion of sports betting to be fast and up and running in many states by the coming NFL season in September. Mississippi, in 2017, changed its law to allow sports betting if the federal law was ever repealed. Alan Godfrey, the executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Association, says a lot more has to happen before the state can take legal bets.
"There's a process by which they have to go through this. We have to adopt regulations, publish regulation, adopt them and they become effective. But more importantly, the properties have to prepare themselves to take the bets," said Godfrey.
Godfrey says sports gaming will be available at Mississippi casinos as soon as regulations are approved.
"The greatest impact is going to be the additional foot traffic that is coming into properties. These are people that are going to come from our surrounding states because it's not offered there and they're going to put wagers on their favorite college football team or their favorite professional sports team," said Godfrey.
The Mississippi Gaming Commission oversees 28 casinos. Ashley Norwood, MPB News.
