Tennessee Sports Betting Update
Rules & Regulations For Sports Betting Still Being Ironed Out In The Volunteer State: Sports betting was passed into law in July of 2019, however, it’s still not up and running do to ongoing issues. The big issue impeding any launch is the ‘minimum hold’ requirements set to be imposed on sports betting operators. The state lottery in Tennessee is charged with overseeing the sports betting in the state. As a new year was ushered in, the Lottery Commission was trying to figure out how to proceed with the ‘hold rule’ a great source of contention among many. The current figure the commission is dealing with is 15% minimum holding fee.
Which means .85 cents would be returned to the customer. This amount according to a new study by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming(EKG), could cost Tennessee millions of dollars in sports betting revenue. EKG is fast to point out that 15% is about double the amount that New Jersey has. It’s also three times the amount that Nevada has. Nevada the state that has had sports betting has hold rule of 5.5%.
The Tennessee Lottery Commission Came Up With Their Figure From An Amount In France
There is no definitive word from the Tennessee Lottery Commission regarding how they came up with the 15% figure. According to EKG, France imposed a 15% minimum holding fee when sports betting was introduced there in 2010. The reason France imposed that number was to discourage excessive gambling. It has worked very well in France, according to French gaming officials. According to the official report that EKG released, they said that 15% number, would cause issues with sports betting nation-wide.
Although French gaming officials said that number is working in their country, the statistics don’t indicate that. According to data by EKG, France under performs in sports betting, compared to Denmark and the UK, who both have much lower hold requirements. The report by EKG also states, “A minimum hold requirement undermines Tennessee’s legal sports betting market.”
According To The Study The Minimum Hold Rule Could Cost Tennessee $10.9 Million
The study by EKG goes on to say, “It drives worse pricing and product, leaving consumers open to considering legal sports betting products in other states. It could also cause consumers to look at other sports betting options in illegal markets.” The study also says having that high of a minimum hold rule would easily cost Tennessee $10.9 million sports betting revenue.
The study also indicates that it could also cause a loss to the amount of sports betting operators in the state. EKG fears, the number of operators would fall from 22 to 10 or less. If the rule continues to be 15% it more than likely will induce betters to looking into other states, offshore or not bet at all. EKG also conducted a survey, and ⅔ of the participants said if the 15% of the rule holds in Tennessee they would reconsider getting a license there.
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