Sports Betting License Applications Now Being Accepted In Tennessee

• Sports betting was made legal in Tennessee in May 2019 and nearly a year later, applications are being accepted for mobile sportsbooks.
• The launch of mobile sports betting platforms in Tennessee could happen as early as July 2020.

MEMPHIS – Last week, The Tennessee Education Lottery finalized the rules and regulations for future Tennessee sports betting providers to follow. This week, the Tennessee Lottery is officially accepting applications from those potential businesses.

Once potential sportsbook operators have read those rules and regulations and apply for the proper licensing, the lottery has 90 days to either approve or deny their application. Per state law, there is no maximum number of licenses that can be given out.

Tennessee Sports Betting Application Fees By Category

There are various categories for the different licenses within the sports betting market. To be an operator (owner) of a mobile sportsbook, the application fee is $750,000 with a $50,000 non-refundable fee tacked on for a total of $800,000.

To be a supplier for an operator, it’s a $75,000 application fee and a $50,000 non-refundable application fee equaling $125,000 for a potential supplier to apply.

Any contractors that will be providing services to sportsbooks will need to have their own licenses which cost $7,500 each.

Other Details

Every sportsbook will have a set payout of 90% which is 5% higher than the originally proposed rate. This has raised some eyebrows because with this high of a payout rate along with the fees required to run a sports betting operation, the odds of being a profitable operator seem to be less than favorable.

There is also a tax rate of 20% on all sports betting revenue that will be paid every month rather than on an annual basis to the state.

The final rule that Tennessee sportsbooks will need to abide by is the marketing rule set by the lottery.

Any and all advertisements must first be approved by the lottery before a business can run it. Marketing materials of their sports betting businesses will need to be submitted to the lottery, who will then have 30 days to approve the advertisements before they can then be used on public platforms.

This is to ensure that any marketing doesn’t appeal to anyone underage in the state when it comes to gambling on sporting events.

The legal age to bet on sports in Tennessee is 21. Now that the Tennessee Education Lottery is accepting applications, the launch of legal sports betting in the Volunteer State can happen as early as July 2020. It is likely to launch before the start of the NFL season.

News tags: NFL | Tennessee | Tennessee Education Lottery | Tennessee Lottery