Ole Miss Out On Announces College Gambling Center As Concerns Rise Over

The University of Mississippi on Monday announced the upcoming launch of its brand-new Center on Collegiate Gambling, which scientists refer to as the "first of its kind in the country" in the middle of rising nationwide concern about betting on collegiate sports.


The center was approved by the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of in February and will cost about $700,000 a year. It was developed to study the "increased threats" for university student and trainee athletes brought on by the rapid growth of legalized sports wagering and online gaming, its creators said. Researchers stated the center will now start working with staff.


IHL ´ s approval of the center follows the release of survey results by University of Mississippi researchers showing that 39% of Mississippi university student gambled in a range of formats in the past year. Of those who participated in sports betting, 6% of Mississippi university student fulfilled criteria for issue gambling as defined by the American Psychiatric Association.


"We truly think that this is a problem that affects Mississippi at large," Hannah Allen-King, executive director of the university ´ s William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing and assistant teacher of public health, stated in a news release. "And so, we ´ re attempting to work with our legislators as they dispute policy modification around betting in the state."


Commercial sports wagering was successfully banned with a couple of exceptions up until 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a 1992 restriction. Mississippi allows sports betting now, but only inside gambling establishments.


After the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court choice, sports betting companies released a full-court press lobbying project to bring sports betting to tens of millions of cellphones around the country, an effort reported to be the fastest expansion of legalized gaming in American history. The business have poured cash into lobbying state lawmakers, including those in Mississippi.


But Mississippi has stayed among the few holdout states, mainly due to fears that legalization could hurt the bottom line of the state ´ s gambling establishments and increase the occurrence of gambling dependency. That hasn ´ t stopped a successful black market from taking hold in the state.


In 2024, unlawful online wagering in Mississippi made up about 5% of the national unlawful market, which has to do with $3 billion in illegal bets in Mississippi, advocates said that year. Supporters of legalization state people will place online sports wagers despite whether the practice is legal, so the state ought to regulate and tax it.


The state House has actually voted, for the third year in a row, to legislate mobile sports wagering throughout the continuous 2026 legislative session. But Senate leaders have actually said they plan to let the measure pass away once again.


Nevertheless, college schools have ended up being centers of activity for sports wagering and, increasingly, gambling addiction. This has actually triggered calls for research study into mobile sports betting ´ s growth and effect on young grownups. The new center will aim to produce such research, which its creators say is lacking without a nationwide research center in the U.S. devoted entirely to the study of collegiate gaming.


The scholastic research will concentrate on college trainee betting behaviors ranging from card video games to proposal wagering and prediction markets. The center will also promote "evidence-based policies and programs to prevent damage," including training therapists to help students struggling with betting.


Eight University of Mississippi therapists have already received the certification to much better equip them to recognize gambling dependency in trainees, the researchers stated.


The rise of college betting has likewise caused increased risks directed at professional athletes, whose efficiency is now carefully tracked by gamblers.


"In a state like Mississippi where we don ´ t have a lot of professional sports teams, college sports are such a huge part of our culture, and a large part of our state population follows and cares about college sports," Allen-King said. "We ´ ve seen that it can affect the psychological health of student-athletes who are getting threatened and bugged because individuals are losing money due to the fact that of their efficiency during games.


Daniel Durkin, an associate teacher of social work who is likewise among the center ´ s establishing members, said raising awareness of sports gambling ´ s prevalence on college schools will be a central objective.


"Part of the problem today is everybody ´ s simply enjoying," Durkin stated. "Take a look at the ads; betting ´ s enjoyable. Everybody ´ s doing it. The severity of the problems has not actually pertain to the forefront yet, however it ´ s just a matter of time."


This story was initially published by Mississippi Today and distributed through a collaboration with The Associated Press.