Ole Miss Announces College Gambling Center As Concerns Rise Over

The University of Mississippi on Monday announced the upcoming launch of its new Center on Collegiate Gambling, which researchers explain as the "very first of its kind in the country" amidst increasing nationwide concern about wagering on college sports.


The center was approved 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 student athletes triggered by the rapid development of legalized sports betting and online gambling, its creators said. Researchers said the center will now start employing staff.


IHL ´ s approval of the center follows the release of study results by University of Mississippi scientists revealing that 39% of Mississippi college students bet in a variety of formats in the previous year. Of those who engaged in sports wagering, 6% of Mississippi university student met requirements for issue gaming as specified by the American Psychiatric Association.


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


Commercial sports wagering was efficiently prohibited with a few exceptions till 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 1992 prohibition. Mississippi enables sports betting now, however only inside casinos.


After the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court choice, sports betting business released a full-court press lobbying project to bring sports betting to 10s of countless cellphones around the nation, an effort reported to be the fastest expansion of legalized gambling in American history. The companies have put cash into lobbying state lawmakers, consisting of those in Mississippi.


But Mississippi has actually stayed one of the couple of holdout states, largely due to worries that legalization might damage the bottom line of the state ´ s casinos and increase the frequency of gambling addiction. That hasn ´ t stopped a successful black market from taking hold in the state.


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


The state House has actually voted, for the 3rd year in a row, to legalize mobile sports betting during the continuous 2026 legislative session. But Senate leaders have actually said they plan to let the measure die again.


Nevertheless, college campuses have become centers of activity for sports betting and, increasingly, gambling dependency. This has prompted calls for research study into mobile sports wagering ´ s development and effect on young adults. The new center will aim to produce such research, which its founders say is doing not have without a national research study center in the U.S. devoted entirely to the research study of college betting.


The academic research study will focus on college student gambling habits varying from card games to proposition betting and forecast markets. The center will likewise promote "evidence-based policies and programs to avoid damage," including training counselors to assist trainees fighting with gambling.


Eight University of Mississippi therapists have already gotten the accreditation to better equip them to identify betting dependency in trainees, the scientists said.


The rise of collegiate gaming has also led to increased threats directed at athletes, whose performance is now closely tracked by bettors.


"In a state like Mississippi where we put on ´ 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 people are losing cash due to the fact that of their efficiency throughout video games.


Daniel Durkin, an associate professor of social work who is also among the center ´ s establishing members, said raising awareness of sports betting ´ s prevalence on college schools will be a main objective.


"Part of the issue right now is everyone ´ s just enjoying," Durkin stated. "Look at the advertisements; betting ´ s enjoyable. Everybody ´ s doing it. The seriousness of the concerns has not truly pertain to the leading edge yet, however it ´ s only a matter of time."


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