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 researchers refer to as the "first of its kind in the nation" in the middle of increasing nationwide issue about banking on college 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 threats" for university student and student professional athletes brought on by the quick growth of legalized sports betting and online gaming, its founders stated. Researchers stated the center will now begin hiring staff.


IHL ´ s approval of the center follows the release of by University of Mississippi researchers showing that 39% of Mississippi college students gambled in a range of formats in the past year. Of those who participated in sports wagering, 6% of Mississippi college students satisfied criteria for issue gaming as specified by the American Psychiatric Association.


"We really believe that this is a problem 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 press release. "And so, we ´ re attempting to work with our legislators as they discuss policy change around gaming in the state."


Commercial sports betting was successfully banned with a couple of exceptions until 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a 1992 prohibition. Mississippi enables sports wagering now, however only inside casinos.


After the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision, sports gambling companies introduced a full-court press lobbying project to bring sports betting to 10s of millions of mobile phones around the country, an effort reported to be the fastest growth of legalized betting in American history. The business have actually poured money into lobbying state legislators, consisting of those in Mississippi.


But Mississippi has stayed among the few holdout states, largely due to worries that legalization might hurt the bottom line of the state ´ s gambling establishments and increase the occurrence of betting addiction. That hasn ´ t stopped a thriving black market from taking hold in the state.


In 2024, prohibited online betting in Mississippi comprised about 5% of the national prohibited market, which has to do with $3 billion in prohibited bets in Mississippi, proponents said that year. Supporters of legalization state individuals will put online sports wagers regardless of whether the practice is legal, so the state should manage and tax it.


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


Nevertheless, college campuses have become hubs of activity for sports betting and, progressively, betting addiction. This has actually prompted require research into mobile sports betting ´ s growth and influence on young people. The brand-new center will aim to produce such research study, which its creators state is lacking without a nationwide proving ground in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to the research study of college gaming.


The academic research study will focus on college trainee betting behaviors varying from card video games to proposition wagering and prediction markets. The center will likewise promote "evidence-based policies and programs to avoid damage," including training therapists to assist students battling with gambling.


Eight University of Mississippi counselors have actually currently gotten the certification to much better equip them to determine gambling addiction in trainees, the scientists stated.


The increase of college gaming has actually also caused increased threats directed at athletes, whose efficiency is now closely tracked by gamblers.


"In a state like Mississippi where we wear ´ 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 since individuals are losing money since of their performance throughout video games.


Daniel Durkin, an associate professor of social work who is likewise one of the center ´ s establishing members, said raising awareness of sports betting ´ s occurrence on college schools will be a central goal.


"Part of the concern today is everyone ´ s simply enjoying," Durkin said. "Take a look at the advertisements; betting ´ s enjoyable. Everybody ´ s doing it. The seriousness of the concerns has not really pertain to the forefront yet, but it ´ s just a matter of time."


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