- 60% of Mississippi students are reported to have placed wagers on mobile betting sites, despite there being no regulated sportsbooks online in Mississippi.
- Mississippi House Speaker Jason White will push to legalize mobile sports betting in the 2026 legislative session.
JACKSON, Miss. – The University of Mississippi conducted a survey to gather information on the gambling habits of college students in the state. With nearly 80,000 students enrolled across eight universities, up to 6,000 are struggling with some form of gambling addiction.
The study was not exclusive to sports betting, and revealed that around 39% of students gambled in the last year. Aside from lottery and card games, legal sports betting was the most prevalent form of gambling.
The most popular sports to wager included NFL football (62%), college football (53%), NBA basketball (46%) and collegiate men’s basketball (48%).
Mississippi To Regulate Online Sportsbooks?
Currently, there are around 40 legal states with sports betting where mobile apps are authorized. Southern states like Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina aren’t part of that grouping and are looking at new legislation to catch up.
House Speaker Jason White (R) is advocating for the legalization of online Mississippi sports betting during the 2026 legislative session. With plans to designate tax revenue from gambling toward addiction resources, White hopes to follow the models of surrounding states, including Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia.
