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The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
Tennessee saw $327 million in sports wagers in February and received $6.4 million in privilege tax during a month highlighted by the Super Bowl, one of the largest sports betting events of the year.
The overall monthly bet total, however, was the lowest it has been in Tennessee since August. Tennessee saw $410.8 million in January wagers and $440.4 million worth of wagers in December.
The American Gaming Association expects 68 million Americans to wager $15.5 billion on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament with 31 million expected to place an online bet and 21.5 million betting casually with friends.
“March Madness is one of the best traditions in American sports—and America’s most wagered-on competition,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “Critically, the expansion of regulated sports betting over the past five years has brought safeguards to more than half of American adults who can now bet legally in their home market.”
Tennessee currently has 11 active online sports betting operators and 13 with licenses. Fanatics Sportsbook is getting ready to launch after being approved for a license March 1 and Wagr is currently offline temporarily, according to the Tennessee Sports Wagering Advisory Council.
Legislation to alter Tennessee’s rule where operators must reach a 10% profit mark annually has not moved forward in the Tennessee Legislature. At the March 1 meeting, SWAC Executive Director Mary Beth Thomas said talks were ongoing with the state’s operators and legislators on potential changes after nine sportsbooks failed to meet the 10% mark for 2022 and the board balked at suggested fines and “true-up payments” for those operators.
As a whole, operators fell just shy of the 10% mark again in February with $31.8 million in adjusted gross income on $327.3 million in bets. In January, it was the same with $36.3 million of adjusted gross income on $410.8 million of sports wagers.
Tennessee does not reveal each operators’ monthly numbers.
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.
