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The Tennessee Lottery announced that legalized sportsbooks were going to accept the first-ever online only sports bets from Nov 1.
BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel, three of the four licensed operators met the requirements and went live on Nov 1 while Tennessee Action 24/7, went live on Nov 2.
In the spring of 2019, Bill Lee, Governor of Tennessee, gave the green light for sports betting to be legalized despite his opposition to allowing gambling in Tennessee, a state that has no casinos.
The new gaming law now makes it possible for the state lottery to regulate everything surrounding sports betting.
Every company or individual looking to get into the sports betting business in Tennessee will be subjected to a detailed vetting process as per the new regulations.
Dave Smith, the lottery spokesperson, added that an additional three operators had applied to manage sportsbooks. These three operators are William Hill, Churchill Downs and Wynn Resorts.
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Sports Betting Operations
Legalized sports betting in Tennessee dictate that online betting is limited to individuals who are 21 years and above. They have to be physically located in the state at the time of placing the bets.
The regulations also stipulate that when you take into consideration the privilege taxes accrued from sports betting, 80 percent has to go towards education, 15 percent gets invested in the infrastructure run by the local government and the remaining 5 percent is set aside for substance abuse and mental health services.
The start of online-only sports betting in Tennessee has been greeted with a flurry of excitement. Advertising is already on overdrive, with betting operators using all channels to get their brand before bettors in the state. They are using television, billboards and social media channels to highlight their sports betting services which are currently focused on the NFL.
Tennessee Could Have $6 Billion Market
Market analysts estimate that sports betting in Tennessee could generate up to $6 billion in revenue when the market reaches its full potential. The betting market in Tennessee is similar to that of Indiana which brought in $1.4 billion in sports wagers in the first 13 months of its launch.
We will have to wait for a few months to see how sports betting fares in Tennessee given that the state has a number of strict regulations in place when compared to Indiana.
