In Mississippi, sports betting will soon be a staple at casinos owned and operated by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and it might happen ahead of the state’s larger commercial casinos.
The recent unanimous approval of amendments to Choctaw Gaming Commission Regulations made during a special tribal council meeting will reportedly see the Pearl River Resort in Philadelphia and Bok Homa Casino in Heidelberg offering sports betting, according to a report from WTOK.
The tribe’s Heidelberg casino is reportedly a popular destination for both Mississippi and Alabama residents.
Proposed regulations which would set a framework for the Magnolia State’s 28 casinos to implement sports betting were already on the table and should be out of an approximate month-long public review period in just days.
The May 14, 2018 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down the federal prohibition on sports betting cleared the 7BALL path for the state to continue its rapid move toward offering sports betting at state casinos.
Other areas addressed in amendments to other chapters include fantasy contests, skill-based gaming, eSports, and coming out of Nevada a new slot product that establishes a community-based wagering structure, according to the report.
Tribal Chief and Chairman of Choctaw Resort Development Enterprise Board (CRDE), Chief Phyliss J. Anderson, said, “The Resort is very excited about the opportunity to offer these new products for our guests in a vibrant and advanced gambling environment.”
Anderson explained, “These newly approved regulations will allow the Resort to remain on the forefront of the gambling market as well as provide additional revenue streams to the Tribe. The Resort will be able to service all our patrons at Bok Homa Casino, Silver Star Hotel and Casino, and Golden Moon Hotel and Casino.”
Unlike California and Florida, which face complicated challenges in amending tribal-state compacts to include sports betting, in Mississippi the language of the 1994 Choctaw compact states that tribal casinos can conduct sports betting “if such wagers are allowed on non-tribal lands under the laws of the state,” according to Legal Sports Report.
Gaming attorney, Jeff Ifrah, of Ifrah Law reportedly said, “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.”
