The Tennessee Government Operations Committee is considering state Rep. Rick Staples’ HB0001, the Tennessee Sports Gaming Act, which would legalize sports betting. The bill would establish a Tennessee Gaming Commission to work with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to regulate sports betting in the state.
Under the measure, a minimum of 10 percent of voters could petition their local governments to hold a referendum on sports betting in their area. The issue would then be put on the next election ballot.
The bill would tax the gross income of sports betting licensees at 10 percent, with 40 percent of revenue going to the state general fund and 30 percent to community and technical colleges. The other 30 percent would go to local governments, which would have to use half of those funds for public schools and half for local infrastructure projects.
An analysis indicated sports betting could increase state revenue by nearly $3 million in the first year and nearly $6 million in 2020-2021. Local revenue could rise by $2.231 million in 2019-2020 and $4.463 million in 2020-2021.
In the Tennessee State Senate, a companion bill and is on the Senate State and Local Government Committee agenda.
The bill would set a 10 percent tax on operator’s adjusted gross revenue. Since Tennessee has no brick-and-mortar casinos, it is one of the few examples of legislation allowing only online betting. Massachusetts and Virginia have also discussed allowing online sports betting only.
Some other changes to the bill include earmarking five percent of tax revenue to the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse to deal with gambling addiction and prohibitions against athlete and team owners from making bets.
The state lottery would regulate legal Tennessee sports wagering and as the bill stands now could issue and unlimited number of online licenses.
