Barstool and Wagr Approved for Sports Betting in Tennessee
The sports betting industry in the state of Tennessee is finally expanding, and it should lead to a massive boost to the market.
The sports betting industry in the state of Tennessee is finally expanding, and it should lead to a massive boost to the market. The Sports Wagering Committee of the Tennessee Education Lottery has continued to receive sports betting applications, and it recently announced a decision for a pair of operators.
Barstool Sportsbook and Wagr Sportsbook are the two new sports betting options in Tennessee, but it is still unclear when each site will launch. There is pressure on both Barstool and Wagr to launch during the football season, but this is expected to take some time.
Barstool and Wagr will be the 8th and 9th sports betting options in the state, and all of the betting in Tennessee must be done online. There were five online sportsbooks that launched on November 1, 2020, but just two have launched since that time.
The Barstool Sportsbook is a product of Penn National Gaming, as those two companies began working together last year. Penn National acquired a large stake in Barstool Sports with the sole intention of joining the US sports betting industry.
Barstool has gotten off to a great start in some other states around the country, but it has not yet really taken off. It will take some time in Tennessee as well since there are already plenty of big names offering sports betting.
Wagr is a brand new name in the US sports betting industry, and Tennessee will be the first state that sees this sportsbook. The company can offer both peer-to-peer betting as well as social wagering.
The Tennessee Education Lottery made it clear that it is only approving Wagr as a social wagering site, and the peer-to-peer betting service cannot be included. Either way, this is the first time that Tennessee will see this form of sports betting being offered.
White Hat Gaming was also approved during this meeting as a sports betting supplier.
Tennessee Numbers Trending Down
The sports betting industry in Tennessee got off to a record-setting start, as the state launched sports betting during the middle of the 2020 NFL season. Tennessee continued to see massive growth in the industry all the way through March, but now things are heading in the wrong direction.
August sports betting numbers will not be revealed until later this month, but the July sports betting totals were not good. The total sports betting handle in July was just $144.5 million, and that is the second-lowest total on record.
The $144.5 million in July represented a drop of more than 23 percent from June, but this is typically a slow month for the entire US sports betting industry. August is expected to produce some bigger sports betting numbers, but the real bounce back will come in September.
Tennessee sportsbooks have brought in more than $1.5 billion in total sports betting handle since November 2020 and over $135 million in revenue. This state is not among the top-10 when it comes to sports betting markets, but adding new operators will help.
