Some states in the US tend to perform better when college sports seasons are ongoing, and Tennessee is one of them. When college sports, specifically college basketball wrapped up in April, sportsbooks in the state started to see less activity in betting. And according to the Tennessee Sports Wagering Advisory Council (SWAC), the Tennessee sports betting market saw a drop in handle in April from March.

This should not discourage you from opening a sportsbook. The decline in handle is at par with the trend in sports betting across various markets in the US, and is no cause for worry. In fact, even if we are looking at a decline in handle, revenue is still in the millions. Let us look at the numbers, as well as the trends from last year to take a better perspective of the Tennessee market.

Tennessee Sports Betting Market Performance this April

Keep in mind that Tennessee is the first state to offer online-only betting. Meaning, if residents want to place their bets on their favorite local teams, they only need to go to their favorite sports betting software, log in, and enjoy. There are currently no brick-and-mortar sportsbooks in the state.

Currently, there are 13 online operators in the state, growing from the less than handful it started with when online wagering went live in Tennessee back in 2020. And these operators took in $380.904 million in wagers this April. State taxes are at $7,029,494 for the month. The state generates their tax off the betting handle and not revenue, so the state no longer reports on revenue for the sportsbooks.

Betting Trends in Tennessee

The handle decreased from March’s $471.988 million by 19.3%. As mentioned earlier, the privilege tax is based off the handle, so the decrease is also at 19.3% month-on-month, from March’s $8.710 million to April’s $7.029 million.

But looking at the year-on-year numbers, April’s handle is 19.6% higher than the same period last year, which was only at $318.4 million. The tax from April 2023 is at $6,435,653. However, the tax receipts last year were based on 20% of the adjusted gross revenues, so the comparison is not accurate here. The shift from taxing the handle instead of revenue started back in July 2023.

What Does This Mean for Sports Betting in Tennessee?

The month-on-month decrease in handle is around $90 million, but the dip in handle can easily be attributed to college sports betting. March Madness is very popular during, yes, you guessed it, March, so it is quite normal to see less wagers in April as college sports tapers off.

But the year-on-year numbers tell us a different story. The handle has increased by around 20% compared to April 2023, so we can see that there is growth in the local sports betting market. While sportsbooks are susceptible to dips and increases in monthly reports, these tend to reflect on the available sports in the calendar in each month. If you look at annual numbers, increases in betting tells us that there are more people betting this year- which is exactly what sportsbook operators want. You can also track your own sportsbook’s numbers with your sportsbook pay per head software.

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