Ole Miss Out On Announces College Gambling Center As Concerns Rise Over
The University of Mississippi on Monday revealed the upcoming launch of its new Center on Collegiate Gambling, which researchers describe as the "first of its kind in the nation" in the middle of increasing national concern about banking on collegiate sports.
The center was authorized by the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees in February and will cost about $700,000 a year. It was developed to study the "increased risks" for college trainees and student athletes brought on by the rapid growth of legalized sports betting and online gaming, its founders said. Researchers stated the center will now begin hiring staff.
IHL ´ s approval of the center follows the release of survey outcomes by University of Mississippi scientists showing that 39% of Mississippi college trainees bet in a variety of formats in the previous year. Of those who participated in sports betting, 6% of Mississippi university student satisfied criteria for as defined by the American Psychiatric Association.
"We truly think that this is an issue that impacts Mississippi at big," Hannah Allen-King, executive director of the university ´ s William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing and assistant teacher of public health, said in a news release. "And so, we ´ re attempting to work with our lawmakers as they debate policy change around gaming in the state."
Commercial sports wagering was successfully banned with a few exceptions until 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a 1992 prohibition. Mississippi enables sports betting now, but only inside gambling establishments.
After the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision, sports betting business introduced a full-court press lobbying project to bring sports wagering to tens of countless cellphones around the nation, an effort reported to be the fastest expansion of legalized gambling in American history. The business have put cash into lobbying state legislators, including those in Mississippi.
But Mississippi has remained one of the few holdout states, largely due to fears that legalization could hurt the bottom line of the state ´ s gambling establishments and increase the prevalence of betting addiction. That hasn ´ t stopped a thriving black market from taking hold in the state.
In 2024, unlawful online betting in Mississippi made up about 5% of the national prohibited market, which is about $3 billion in illegal bets in Mississippi, supporters stated that year. Supporters of legalization say individuals will place online sports wagers no matter whether the practice is legal, so the state must manage and tax it.
The state House has actually voted, for the third year in a row, to legalize mobile sports betting throughout the ongoing 2026 legal session. But Senate leaders have stated they prepare to let the procedure pass away again.
Nevertheless, college campuses have actually ended up being hubs of activity for sports betting and, progressively, gambling dependency. This has prompted calls for research into mobile sports wagering ´ s development and effect on young adults. The new center will aim to produce such research, which its creators state is lacking without a national research center in the U.S. dedicated solely to the study of college betting.
The scholastic research study will focus on university student gambling habits varying from card video games to proposition betting and forecast markets. The center will also promote "evidence-based policies and programs to avoid harm," including training counselors to assist trainees battling with gaming.
Eight University of Mississippi counselors have currently gotten the certification to much better equip them to identify gambling dependency in students, the scientists stated.
The increase of collegiate gaming has also caused increased hazards directed at athletes, whose efficiency is now carefully tracked by gamblers.
"In a state like Mississippi where we don ´ t have a lot of expert sports groups, college sports are such a huge part of our culture, and a big part of our state population follows and appreciates college sports," Allen-King said. "We ´ ve seen that it can impact the mental health of student-athletes who are getting threatened and bugged since people are losing money since of their performance during video games.
Daniel Durkin, an associate professor of social work who is also one of the center ´ s founding members, stated raising awareness of sports gambling ´ s occurrence on college schools will be a main goal.
"Part of the problem right now is everyone ´ s just enjoying," Durkin stated. "Take a look at the ads; betting ´ s enjoyable. Everybody ´ s doing it. The severity of the problems has not actually concern the leading edge yet, but it ´ s just a matter of time."
This story was initially released by Mississippi Today and dispersed through a partnership with The Associated Press.