Tennessee became the eighth state in the post-PASPA era to surpass $3 billion in sports betting handle after the Sports Wagering Advisory Council reported a handle of approximately $341.8 million Friday.
That handle was the third-largest of the 14 months the Volunteer State has been accepting wagers and marked the end of its most active quarter, as the final three months saw bettors place nearly $1.1 billion worth of bets — just shy of doubling the previous three-month period.
The December handle represented a 6.5% decline from November’s total of $365.7 million, but was also an 88.9% year-over-year improvement from the nearly $181 million handle generated in the final month of 2020. Overall, Tennessee operators accepted more than $2.7 billion in wagers for 2021, which is currently ninth among all states.
Top 10 #SportsBetting Handle since May 2018 (Dec in CAPS):
1 #NEWJERSEY: $22.783B
2 #Nevada: $19.757B
3 #PENNSYLVANIA: $11.641B
4 #Illinois: $8.115B
5 #INDIANA: $6.034B
6 #Colorado: $4.572B
7 #MICHIGAN: $4.097B
8 #TENNESSEE: $3.042B
9 #Virginia: $2.795B
10 #IOWA: $2.829B— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) January 21, 2022
Bettors had a notably better month than November, as operators reported $24.6 million in gross revenue from a 7.2% win rate. That was the second-lowest hold recorded since launch, ahead of only the 6.1% in October. Gross revenue declined one-third from November’s record haul of $36.9 million, while the adjusted revenue total of $16.5 million was a 44.3% drop from the previous month.
Operators grossed more than $239.2 million in revenue for the calendar year on the strength of an 8.8% win rate. When accounting for promotional play and other deductions, the state was able to levy a 20% tax on nearly $197.6 million of operator revenue.
The state collected $3.3 million in tax receipts for December and finished the year with slightly more than $39.5 million generated through sports wagering. Tennessee’s tax rate on adjusted revenue — among the highest in the nation — will help the state likely place no lower than fourth for tax revenue among legal jurisdictions, behind only Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Illinois.
Photo: Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
