Tennessee Sports Betting Handle Continues Rise in January, $211M Wagered

Tennessee sports betting has had a meteoric rise in its first three months of sports betting. This was rather unexpected as many sports betting experts and sports betting operators claimed that the restrictions, taxes, and laws regarding sports wagering were not bettor friendly enough to succeed.

January Betting Numbers

In the data provided by The Tennessee Education Lottery during their board meeting, it was released that Tennessee saw another rise in the amount wagered, hitting $211M in January; this brings the three-month total from when sports betting started in November to past $500M. Tennessee is already firmly in the discussion as a top sports betting destination despite only have four sportsbooks, three national, and only having online sports betting.

One big worry for Tennessee was originally the large 10% hold that was required by the sportsbooks, making the odds not as profitable for bettors. However, with $211M wagered, Tennessee became the fastest state ever to the $200M/month handle mark. It is clear that those worries were very much overblown.

The adjusted gross revenue was exactly at that 10% mark, with $21 million retained by sportsbooks. The State took home a whopping $4.4 million in tax revenue. To put this number into perspective, this is half of the amount of money the State of New Jersey took home with a sports betting handle of almost a billion.

Super Bowl Bets

The Super Bowl undoubtedly had a huge role in the amount wagered during January. While there are no official figures out on wagers in Tennessee regarding the Super Bowl, one can safely assume that at least a third of these wagers, if not closer to a 60% share, were on the NFL.

The Buccaneers winning was a mixed result for bettors as the sports wagers coming in nationally were rather split. However, it was obvious that the high rollers betting past the $500k mark were on the Tampa Bay side and won big.

The Tennessee Education Lottery is also investigating some odd bets placed on the Super Bowl. It is unclear what the suspicion is or what triggered this investigation. However, this will be something to keep an eye on as it is the first real controversy for online wagering in the Volunteer State.

More Sportsbooks to Come

It was announced that WynnBet had submitted its application and that application seems to have been approved. However, the sportsbook has not been given the green light to go live in the state. William Hill has also submitted an application, and there has yet to be an update regarding their status in Tennessee.

Both WynnBet and William Hill have made rapid expansions and recently opened up in the Michigan betting market. William Hill has also entered Virginia, a state in which WynnBet is still waiting for approval. These two sportsbooks will make great additions to the three other national sportsbooks that are live in DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM.

With more sportsbooks arriving and more players playing, it will be interesting to see how the sports betting handle adjusts over the next few months without the crutch of the NFL to carry the wagers. However, 2021 overall looks like a very bright year for Tennessee as it continues to rack up tax revenue on sports wagering.