Two sportsbook operators, SuperBook Sports and Gamewise, recently requested the Tennessee Legislature to use unofficial data for NFL wagering. The operators made the request a month ago to the Sports Wagering Advisory Council (SWAC) that the official NFL data was not available to them on “commercially reasonable terms.”
“They’re just getting started, and we appreciate them being here,” SWAC chairman Billy Orgel told Legal Sports Report. “So if some of the other larger (sportsbooks) have agreed to this, I guess financially it’s not as much of a burden on them, because of their handle, I guess. They’re taking more bets.”
At the February SWAC meeting, SWAC councilmember Tom Lee seemed to side with SuperBook Sports and Gamewise.
“I think our authority in this situation is there’s not much we can say to the NFL,” Lee said. “But we can say a great deal to a licensee who says I’d like to use data other than that which the NFL provides because I think the NFL is providing it under commercially unreasonable terms. So we can green light other licenses to use other sources of data. And commercially reasonable parties will figure that out.”
The meeting got state lawmakers to act. There are now two bills addressing the subject. The legislative session ends on May 4 and SB 475 is already set for a hearing in the Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee.
If the bills pass, it could pave the way for other states that use official league data to allow other sources of information. As it stands now, several states require their operators to use official data. That could change, however.
The cost of using official data can be financially burdensome to smaller operators. Big sportsbooks, such as BetMGM and DraftKings, can absorb the expense much easier than someone like SuperBook Sports, which has a presence in seven states. Conversely, BetMGM has sportsbooks in 21 states.
