Regulated sports betting launch will move Tennessee close to the Wedge Index top 10 as regulatory hurdles clear in time for official launch.
Tennessee moved closer to getting all the components ready for the official launch of its regulated sports betting market on Sunday.
All the betting brands that applied for licenses have been issued with the necessary paperwork and more platform and data suppliers have also been granted licenses by the Tennessee Education Lottery.
The launch of sports betting will have a positive impact on the Volunteer State’s ranking on the Wedge Index as it moves from T40th to the fringes of the top 10.
The likes of BetMGM, DraftKings and FanDuel will all be competing for players in the state alongside ‘local’ brand Tennessee Action 24/7 on Sunday, although there were doubts as to whether it had secured the necessary insurance policies required by the regulations.
Tennessee Action 24/7 betting solutions provider Amelco was one of the suppliers that received a license from the TEL.
Wording issues
More operators are expected to join the market once they receive their licenses. The main issue holding up proceedings was that members of the Tennessee Education Lottery were in disagreement over which bets to allow on college sports.
The problem revolved around the wording of the Sports Gaming Act, which passed the legislature back in April.
The Act states that betting should be prohibited on “individual actions, events, statistics, occurrences, or non-occurrences to be determined during a collegiate sporting event.”
The colleges and universities apparently believe this should forbid all betting on college sports, but the lottery officials believe it only refers to betting on individuals, not on teams.
The conversation also turned to what constituted an in-game proposition bet and whether the words should be capitalized or not.
