Tennessee Approves Sportsbooks William Hill & Wynn Sports

Just a month after Churchill Downs online sportsbook was approved by the Tennessee Lottery committee, they have approved two more online sportsbooks. William Hill and Wynn Sports will join FanDuel, BetMGM, Tennessee Action 24/7, and DraftKings as operating sportsbooks. The Super Bowl date has been a target for many states and sportsbook launches, but William Hill and Wynn Sports will not launch before the February 7th Super Bowl date.

Tennessee’s Successful Launch

Many eyes were on the opening numbers after the November 1st launch date for legal mobile sports betting. There have been over $300 million in gross wagers through the first two months of the launch. From November to December, there was a 37% uptick in wagers. There has been a gross revenue of $13.9 million, and money has been divided into the lottery education account, state general revenue fund, and gaming services. Adding two more sportsbooks to the growing list of options will only enhance the Tennessee sports betting market.

Online sports betting was passed in the spring of 2019 and took a little over a year for the committee and lawmakers to regulate and lay out the framework for operations and where tax revenue would go. There was $5.4 million in privilege taxes in the first two months, and over $3 million of that was from December alone. The Tennessee market has really taken off in comparison to other states.

No Super Bowl Launch, Why The Delay?

William Hill was set to launch before the Super Bowl, but the Nashville bombings impacted their nearby servers. The company said it delayed operations planning and would need to push back its launch after approval. They currently operate in 12 states. Wynn Sports don’t have a  direct reason for not being up by the Super Bowl date but expect the launch date to be shortly after. With how successful the market has been, they will be jumping into a successful launch over the first few months.

What These Approvals Mean For The Future

FanDuel and DraftKings have been the pioneers in mobile sports betting and were one of the early sportsbook launches in Tennessee. BetMGM has been diving into the mobile and online gambling world as well. Adding William Hill and Wynn Sports into the mix will only increase consumer options and drive promotional wars to attract users. We have seen plenty of other states offer up various sportsbooks and find much success in doing so. The interesting aspect of a growing list of Tennessee operators is how Tennessee Action 24/7 will handle more competition. They are Tennessee owned and operated with a Nashville-based customer support service. They pride themselves on being established and operated in Tennessee, but what remains unseen is if they can compete with the bigger operators like DraftKings and BetMGM. A growing list of operators in the state of Tennessee will only give Action 24/7 more competition. With Tennessee being a bigger sports market than some realize, the boom is only just beginning. A wide range of options is favorable for the consumer, but a state-run sportsbook will have more competition.