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 scientists refer to as the "very first of its kind in the country" amid 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 dangers" for university student and trainee professional athletes caused by the fast development of legalized sports wagering and online betting, its creators said. Researchers said the center will now begin hiring personnel.


IHL ´ s approval of the center follows the release of survey outcomes by University of Mississippi researchers showing that 39% of Mississippi college students gambled in a range of formats in the previous year. Of those who participated in sports wagering, 6% of Mississippi university student met criteria for problem gaming as defined by the American Psychiatric Association.


"We really think that this is a concern that affects Mississippi at big," Hannah Allen-King, executive director of the university ´ s William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing and assistant professor of public health, said in a press release. "And so, we ´ re attempting to deal with our legislators as they dispute policy modification 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, however just inside gambling establishments.


After the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court choice, sports gambling business launched a full-court press lobbying project to bring sports wagering to 10s of countless mobile phones around the country, an effort reported to be the fastest growth of legalized gaming in American history. The business have put money into lobbying state lawmakers, consisting of those in Mississippi.


But Mississippi has actually remained one of the few holdout states, mainly due to fears that legalization could damage the bottom line of the state ´ s casinos and increase the frequency of gambling dependency. That hasn ´ t stopped a successful black market from taking hold in the state.


In 2024, illegal online wagering in Mississippi made up about 5% of the national prohibited market, which has to do with $3 billion in prohibited bets in Mississippi, advocates stated that year. Supporters of legalization state people will put online sports wagers no matter whether the practice is legal, so the state ought to manage and tax it.


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


Nevertheless, college campuses have become centers of activity for sports betting and, significantly, gambling dependency. This has actually prompted calls for research study into mobile sports ´ s development and effect on young people. The brand-new center will intend to produce such research, which its creators say is lacking without a nationwide research study center in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to the research study of college betting.


The scholastic research will concentrate on university student gambling habits varying from card video games to proposition wagering and prediction markets. The center will likewise promote "evidence-based policies and programs to avoid harm," including training counselors to help trainees having problem with betting.


Eight University of Mississippi counselors have currently 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 professional athletes, whose performance is now carefully tracked by gamblers.


"In a state like Mississippi where we put on ´ t have a great deal 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 impact the mental health of student-athletes who are getting threatened and harassed due to the fact that individuals are losing cash due to the fact that of their performance during games.


Daniel Durkin, an associate teacher of social work who is also among the center ´ s establishing members, stated raising awareness of sports gambling ´ s prevalence on college schools will be a main goal.


"Part of the issue today is everybody ´ s simply having fun," Durkin said. "Take a look at the advertisements; gambling ´ s fun. Everybody ´ s doing it. The seriousness of the issues has not actually concern the leading edge yet, but it ´ s only a matter of time."


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