Tennessee is now welcoming iGaming companies to put forward their sports betting licence applications.
The documentation is available on the Tennessee Education Lottery (TEL)’s website.
Four separate categories will be used to process documents. Karen Lenoir will take the role of Contract Compliance Coordinator for the licensing stage.
Sports betting not far away
The categories for sports betting licences will go as follows.
- Sports gaming operator;
- Vendor;
- Supplier;
- Operator and supplier.
After their initial drafting in November 2019, regulations for the market were finalised last week. As part of this, the lottery board has 90 days to choose whether or not they accept or decline applications.
Three separate licence levels are available. The first two, which come with a non-refundable $5,000 application fee, are below.
- Level I (costs $750,000);
- Level II (costs $75,000).
A third application level (Level III), priced at $7,500, is also available.
Other practicalities of sports betting in Tennessee
Operators will be taxed at 20% of their gross gaming revenue, paid on a monthly basis.
Advertising will also be controlled under strict measures. All materials of this kind must be approved by the lottery at least 30 days before they are scheduled to go live.
After regulations were approved by the lottery, TEL Board Chair Susan Lanigan said the following.
“These rules reflect the significant work that went into establishing the processes and requirements for licensing and regulating interactive sports wagering in Tennessee.
“The board thanks the TEL and the Sports Wagering Advisory Council for their thoughtful help and guidance.”
Online and mobile sports betting were both approved by Bill Lee, the state’s Governor, last year. Lee’s secretary said that the governor “said he does not believe that the expansion of gambling is best”.
However, “many in the legislature found this to be an issue they want to explore further”.
This vertical will be restricted to digital platforms only. This is partially because no land-based casinos exist in the Volunteer State.
