The Mississippi Gaming Commission has reported a 119.1% year-on-year rise in sports betting revenue in January to $4.6m, while handle in the US state also increased by 38.6%.
Revenue for the month amounted to $4.6m, up from $2.1m in the corresponding month last year, but down 49.5% from $9.1m in January of this year.
Players wagered a total of $47.8m on sports during February, which was higher than the $37.6m spent in the same month in 2020, but 29.4% lower than in the amount bet in January.
Coastal casinos again proved the most popular with consumers, as revenue from these facilities reached $2.7m in February, with players spending $34.7m at their retail sportsbooks.
Basketball was the sport of choice for consumers at coastal casinos, with $21.5m spent and casinos turning $1.3m in revenue. Football also proved popular, partly due to the NFL’s Super Bowl in early February, with revenue reaching $251,941 off a handle of $6.0m.
Sports wagering revenue from central casinos reached $1.2m, from a handle of $7.8m, while northern casinos posted $683,125 in revenue as players spent a total of $5.4m in February.
For the year to date, sports betting revenue in Mississippi reached $13.7m, with players having spent $115.5m in the process.
Consumers in Mississippi remain limited to retail sports betting, after a bill that sought to expand this to online channels died in committee last month.
Introduced in January by Senator Scott DeLane, Senate Bill 2396 set out plans to amend existing laws in the state and permit wagering online and via mobile.
The bill was referred to committee in the Senate, but did not progress past this stage and died on February 2.