The State Of Tennessee Sports Betting 6 Months, $1B Later

Tennessee has made a new national record for sports betting handle collected within six months, exceeding the billion-dollar mark.
The sports gaming industry of Tennessee is currently undergoing a transition from having the Tennessee Education Lottery as the regulator to making the Sports Wagering Advisory Council the new regulator.
Four more sportsbooks could be entering the sports betting market of the Volunteer State soon, with one wanting to offer sports bettors peer-to-peer wagers.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – So much has been happening within the Tennessee sports betting market lately and it’s finally all been positive news after months of poor press. The regulator of the industry, the Tennessee Education Lottery (TEL) and the Sports Wagering Advisory Council (SWAC) have switched roles, which will go into effect on January 1, 2022, after legislation passed within the Tennessee General Assembly to allow this transition earlier this month.

Tennessee sports gaming has been in the news recently but in a very poor light. Ever since some fraudulent activity was being investigated by two different sports betting operators, the sports betting industry in the Volunteer State couldn’t catch a break. Then there was the indefinite suspension of the Tennessee Action 24/7 sportsbook by the TEL for such illegal activities. However, that suspension lasted only a week as a judge overturned the decision on appeal by the sportsbook.

Litigation is still pending between the two entities but neither knows what the outcome will be. The TEL believes it is in the best interest of everyone to bring this issue to a close. This could mean Tennessee Action 24/7 receiving their permanent license back as well as any financial damages lost for the days they were forced to be shut down during March Madness by the TEL.

What Else Is Going On In Tennessee?

Aside from the court case and impending switch in regulators, the completely mobile sportsbook market in the Volunteer State has made a national record in handle, surpassing even New Jersey. Tennessee has taken in a combined $1,077,844,523 in wagers across their seven sportsbooks as was reported by the TEL on Tuesday. The market jumped the one-billion-dollar threshold within six months of being live. The current Tennessee sportsbook operators are DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, William Hill, Tennessee Action 24/7, TwinSpires, and WynnBET.

This amount of handle resulted in $92 million in sports betting revenue and $18.3 million in taxes for the state from the industry. New Jersey, the sports gaming powerhouse of the East, only had $928,134,172 in handle for their first six months and they have retail and mobile sportsbooks, however, this makes Tennessee the new record holder.

What’s Ahead For Tennessee Sports Gaming

More sportsbooks are planning on joining the regulated sports betting market in Tennessee. The TEL has said that four more operators have put in applications for licenses. One such operation is ZenSports. The platform would enter the industry as a traditional sportsbook but has plans to offer peer-to-peer sports betting. This type of wagering allows sports bettors to go head-to-head on bets instead of using a fixed-odds betting format.

Should all of these new things come together in Tennessee, the already surging industry could go beyond any other sports gaming market in the nation. This only further proves that mobile sportsbooks are the wave of the future and Tennessee hopped on that train first. They may now be the first to hop on the peer-to-peer sports betting train as well.

The next meeting of the Sports Wagering Advisory Council is set for August 17 where further discussions on the progression of the industry will take place.

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Christina Monroe

Christina has been writing for as long as she can remember and does dedicated research on the newly regulated sports betting market. She comes from a family of sports lovers that engage in friendly bets from time to time. During the winter months, you can find Christina baking cookies and beating the entire staff at Mario Kart…the N64 version of course.