Kathy Waterbury, spokesperson for the Department Revenue said that Mississippi casinos saw $5.5 million in wagers on sporting events. This resulted in $660,000 in revenue. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a federal law that prohibited betting on sporting events in any state except Nevada, Mississippi became the first state to allow sportsbook betting. While some estimates of the revenue that would be generated by sports betting for the state varied widely, most officials agreed that it would be less then $10 million annually. It generated $54,000 in state revenue last August when a few of the 28 state casinos offered the opportunity to bet on sporting events. The September total jumped dramatically with 21 of the 28 casinos offering sports betting. In the coming months, Mississippi casinos will likely offer wagering on sporting events. The August special session saw legislators decide to allocate the revenue from sports betting for maintenance of state roads and bridges. They also earmarked the revenue from the lottery, which was approved during the same session. All lottery revenues exceeding $80 million per year will go to education. According to the bill that was passed in the special session, lottery and sports betting revenues will be diverted from transportation to the general funds to be divided up between education, public health and other services. It will take the state at least one year to create a lottery. According to the Legislative Budget Committee’s monthly revenue report, overall state revenue collections for September were slightly higher than in September. Revenue collections have increased by $22.1 million in September, the third month, or 1.83 percent, over the collections during the same period last fiscal year. The collection is $45.4 million, or 3.8 percent more than the official estimate used by legislators during the 2018 session to create the current budget. If revenue falls below this estimate, either the governor or the Legislature will have to make budget cuts mid-year or dip into state reserve funds. Nearly all revenue categories, from income tax to sales tax to gambling taxes, are increasing year over year. Only the corporate revenue is notable, down $4.6million or 4.8 percent in the first three months.