Ole Miss Announces College Gambling Center As Concerns Rise Over
The University of Mississippi on Monday revealed the upcoming launch of its brand-new Center on Collegiate Gambling, which researchers refer to as the "very first of its kind in the nation" in the middle of rising 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 to study the "heightened risks" for college trainees and trainee athletes triggered by the rapid development of legalized sports wagering and online betting, its founders said. Researchers stated the center will now start hiring personnel.
IHL ´ s approval of the center follows the release of study results by University of Mississippi scientists showing that 39% of Mississippi college trainees gambled in a variety of formats in the previous year. Of those who engaged in sports wagering, 6% of Mississippi college trainees fulfilled requirements for problem gambling as defined by the American Psychiatric Association.
"We truly think that this is an issue that affects Mississippi at large," Hannah Allen-King, executive director of the university ´ s William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing and assistant professor of public health, said in a news release. "And so, we ´ re trying to deal with our legislators as they debate policy change around gambling in the state."
Commercial sports betting was efficiently prohibited with a few exceptions until 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 1992 restriction. Mississippi enables sports betting now, but just inside casinos.
After the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision, sports betting companies launched a full-court press lobbying project to bring sports wagering to tens of millions of cellphones around the country, an effort reported to be the fastest growth of legalized betting in American history. The companies have actually poured cash into lobbying state lawmakers, including those in Mississippi.
But Mississippi has actually remained one of the couple of holdout states, mostly due to worries that legalization could damage the bottom line of the state ´ s casinos and increase the frequency of betting dependency. That hasn ´ t stopped a successful black market from taking hold in the state.
In 2024, prohibited 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, supporters stated that year. Supporters of legalization say individuals will place online sports wagers no matter whether the practice is legal, so the state should control and tax it.
The state House has voted, for the third year in a row, to legislate mobile sports wagering during the continuous 2026 legislative session. But Senate leaders have actually said they prepare to let the procedure pass away again.
Nevertheless, college schools have actually become hubs of activity for sports betting and, increasingly, gambling addiction. This has actually triggered calls for research into mobile sports wagering ´ s growth and effect on young adults. The new center will intend to produce such research study, which its creators say is lacking without a national proving ground in the U.S. devoted entirely to the research study of college betting.
The academic research study will concentrate on college student gambling habits ranging from card video games to proposal wagering and prediction markets. The center will likewise promote "evidence-based policies and programs to prevent harm," including training counselors to help students having problem with betting.
Eight University of Mississippi counselors have actually already gotten the accreditation to better equip them to identify betting addiction in trainees, the researchers said.
The increase of college gaming has likewise resulted in increased threats directed at athletes, whose performance is now closely tracked by bettors.
"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 big part of our state population follows and appreciates college sports," Allen-King said. "We ´ ve seen that it can affect the mental health of student-athletes who are getting threatened and pestered due to the fact that individuals are losing money because of their performance throughout video games.
Daniel Durkin, an associate teacher of social work who is also one of the center ´ s founding members, stated raising awareness of sports betting ´ s frequency on college schools will be a central goal.
"Part of the issue today is everyone ´ s simply enjoying," Durkin stated. "Take a look at the advertisements; betting ´ s enjoyable. Everybody ´ s doing it. The severity of the concerns has not truly pertain to the leading edge yet, however it ´ s only a matter of time."
This story was originally released by Mississippi Today and dispersed through a collaboration with The Associated Press.