The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council (SWC) continued its crackdown on illegal sports betting this month.
On Wednesday, SWC issued a $50,000 fine to the sportsbook Xbet for operating illegally in the state.
SWC said Xbet did not comply with last month’s cease-and-desist letter.
This is the second time in April that the SCW has issued a fine to a sportsbook. SWC fined BetUs and MyBookie $50,000 each for failing to comply with cease-and-desist letters.
“Our mission is to protect the public interest of Tennessee through a safe and regulated sports betting environment, and we will continue our work to eradicate these bad actors from the market,” SWC Executive Director Mary Beth Thomas said. “In stark contrast to our legal sportsbooks, illegal operators choose to violate state and federal law and do not offer any of the same consumer protections the law requires of licensed entities.”
According to the SWC press release, Tennessee has America’s largest online sports betting market. Tennesseans wager almost $5 billion yearly.
The state’s Sports Gaming Act lets SWC hand out a $10,000 fine for a sportsbook’s first offense of accepting wagers without a license. The fine increases to $15,000 for a second offense and $25,000 for a third offense.
Furthermore, additional offenses may result in a $25,000 fine for each occurrence.
An illegal offshore sportsbook, Bovada, shut down in Tennessee last year after being fined $50,000 for operating illegally.
SWC sent a cease-and-desist letter to the company to allow Tennessee users to withdraw any funds they had with the sportsbook.
“Our licensed sportsbook operators provide important consumer protections not found in the illegal market, and the closure of Bovada’s virtual doors in Tennessee is an important step toward the eradication of unlicensed, illegal sportsbooks in Tennessee,” Billy Orgel, chairman of SWC, said.
– – –
Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
Photo “Xbet” by Xbet.
I cannot believe that betting operators are not following Tennessee laws! (sarcasm)!
Still waiting for the Tennessee to legalize casinos and prostitution. They need to get that additionally tax revenue!!!!!