$9.8 million wagered in Mississippi casinos during first month of sports betting

Nobody knew just how popular sports betting would be when the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi and Gold Strike Casino in Tunica took the first bets in the state on Aug. 1.

Very popular, the numbers show as the NFL regular season kicks off Thursday night.

From Aug. 1 through Sept. 3, fans wagered $9.8 million at Mississippi casinos, according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

That total came even while some sports books just opened the last week of August and other casinos in the state don’t have their sports book operational yet.

In comparison, Delaware, which had limited sports betting before the Supreme Court lifted in the ban in May, took in $7 million in bets in its first 20 days of operation.

New Jersey, which was second state to legalize sport betting, took in $16 million in wagers in its first 17 days of legal sports betting.

Mississippi quickly became the third state to allow sports betting after the ban was lifted. Despite Mississippi’s much smaller population, the state’s earnings over 33 days were positive numbers, said Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Gaming Commission.

Godfrey said all but one of the state’s 28 casinos will offer sports betting and 20 of the 27 casinos have opened their sports books.