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The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
Tennessee saw $467 million in gross wagers and $8.6 million in privilege tax paid in January, making it the third highest amount of wagers the state has seen since betting began in November 2020.
The gross wager numbers only trail November and December 2023.
Wagers were up from $410.8 million worth of bets and $7.3 million in taxes collected in January 2023 and $386 million worth of bets and $5.8 million worth of taxes collected in January 2022.
Tennessee collected $9.1 million in taxes on $495 million of gross wagers in December 2023 and $9.5 million in taxes on $517 million worth of gross wagers in November 2023.
Tennessee levies a 1.85% tax on gross handle, which replaced a 20% tax on adjusted gross income that was in place until July.
Tennessee sends 80% of its sports wagering taxes to the Lottery for Education Fund to pay for things such as the Hope Scholarship while 15% goes to the general fund of local governments and 5% goes to the state’s Department of Mental Health.
Tennessee’s Sports Wagering Council has stopped reporting how much Tennessee sportsbooks were making off the gross wagers and how much was being paid out as winnings, something that made Tennessee unique in its lack of public reporting compared with other states that have online sports wagering.
The SWC recently was asked by Tennessee’s House Finance, Ways and Means Committee to re-start publicly reporting those numbers. The January sportsbook revenue numbers were not included in the public reporting.
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
