The state of Tennessee is close to one year of legally offering sports betting, and as the date draws near, the handle is closing in on $2 billion. The Tennessee Education Lottery recently reported that $1.7 billion wagers have been placed, generating just under $29 million in taxes and over $156 million in revenues.
Online-Only Industry
Currently, Tennessee offers online wagering only. Because of this, it is helping the state to become the first to reach the $1 billion mark in bets within the US. In comparison, only eight states were able to reach the $100 million mark after six months in operation. New Jersey was the closest state to come to $1 billion, reaching just over $928 million.
Sports betting is big business in Tennessee, and according to PlayTenn analyst Nicole Russo, the state is just scratching the surface when it comes to potential. The number of operators is growing and this is due to the online-only design.
Russo feels that better transparency within the regulation of the market would help to propel the industry forward. She also feels a change in the 10% hold requirement of operators would also be beneficial.
Pushing Past Other States
In the United States, Tennessee is the only state that offers an online-only industry. It seems that the state will finish 2021 with the fourth-highest betting total within its first year. The state will fall behind New Jersey at number one, Illinois and Colorado in second and third.
Currently, Tennessee offers eight different operators with some of the biggest names in the industry offering services. These companies include:
- DraftKings
- FanDuel
- Caesars
- Barstool
- BetMGM
- WynnBET
- Action 24/7
- TwinSpires
Tennessee has seen successful revenues and wagers each month since launching. Starting from November 2020, the state has not seen a month with less than $144 million in wagers placed. This is an amazing feat, especially considering that the state does not offer any land-based betting options via casinos or other types of faclities.
For operators, of the tax revenues paid, 80% goes to the education lottery funding while 15% is used by local governments on projects. The 5% that remains is used for gambling addiction programs set up by the state.
There are still the October reports to review plus November and December left to consider when it comes to betting handle in Tennessee. However, these remaining months are not very busy when it comes to sports betting. It will be interesting to see how the state fares once the year comes to an end.
