by Jon Styf
Tennessee collected $3.3 million in taxes from the $340 million in bets placed at Tennessee’s sportsbooks in December, according to Tennessee data acquired by PlayTenn.
December was the third-highest month for amount of bets placed since betting began in November 2020. In October, $375.3 million was wagered and $365.7 million was wagered in November.
More than $2.7 billion in bets were placed in Tennessee in 2021 with $39.3 million in taxes paid on $239.9 million in gross revenue.
“The playoff push from the Tennessee Titans and the momentum of the Memphis Grizzlies gave sportsbooks a nice boost to make up for a dwindling college football schedule,” said Alec Cunningham, an analyst for PlayTenn.com. “Sportsbooks have pushed the envelope over the last four months, offering an avalanche of incentives and promos to help grow their customer bases. Those efforts have been a success, and should continue to help grow the market once football ends.”
Sportsbooks made $240 million in revenue at eight active Tennessee sportsbooks in 2021.
The numbers were significantly higher last month compared with December 2020 with betting up 88.9% year-over-year, according to the Tennessee Education Lottery’s Sports Wagering Advisory Council, which took assumed oversight of sports gambling Jan. 1.
Over the final four months of 2021, $1.3 billion bets were placed with $110.4 million in gross revenue for the sportsbooks.
“Tennessee has overall performed well, especially considering it is still a very young market,” said Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA.com Network, which includes PlayTenn.com. “Tennessee will continue to mature over the next year. It would not be a surprise to see it make up ground on more established markets like Colorado and Indiana, which have similar populations but drew significantly more in wagers in 2021.”
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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 The Center Square, Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies.
Photo “Parx Casino Sportsbook” by Dough4872. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Gambling might not be your cup of tea, or mine. That said, having it around is one aspect of freedom. The same freedom that some folks are wandering around muttering about and not wearing masks.
This gambling thing has been a cancer on any state that has allowed it. Nevada might be the only exception.
People, don’t support this trash. And while you’re at it, stop supporting ‘woke’ professional sports all together.
In a State with $3 BILLION in tax receipts above the stated annual budget, I’d love for somebody to show me how and why $3.3 million dollars is worth all of the real and potential depravities that this brings to Tennessee!
This follows the exact game plan for bringing down a society, make them morally bankrupt, and fiscal bankruptcy will follow.
Kevin – Right on!
Running a government on gambling be it a lottery or online betting is a huge step in destroying the state. I wonder how large the contributions were from the gambling cartels in order to get this legalized in Tennessee. This makes me sick.
Sounds like pothole repair money.