Tennessee Crosses the $200m Monthly Handle in Record Time

After having the best-ever monthly debut for a legal sports betting US state since its online-only launch last November, Tennessee has once again blown past previous records after a tremendous showing in January 2021.  

According to a report published by the Tennessee Education Lottery (TEL) last Tuesday, sports bettors in the Volunteer state placed wagers worth $211 million overall, to record a 16.6% surge compared to December’s $180.9 million handle.

The outstanding January performance officially put Tennessee on the map as the 7th legal sports betting state in the USA to bring in more than $200 million worth of wagers in a month.  Better yet, after crossing the $200 million monthly handle mark in its third month of entering into the realm of regulated sports betting, it is the fastest state ever to do so in the history of legal sports betting in the USA.

Still on the records that the Volunteer State has smashed after January’s incredible milestone, the lifetime handle for the state has hit a total of $523 million, making it the first state to collect over half a billion dollars from wagers in just three months of launching a legal sports betting market. Before Tennessee’s winning streak, Indiana had recorded the highest handle for the first three months of market entry with $274.2 million, which is now about half of what the Volunteer State saw over a similar timeframe.

Big Wins for Sportsbooks and the State

With the historic pace of growth, Tennessee sportsbooks have collectively won a total of $49 million in revenue since launch. Nearly half of that revenue was seen in January after sportsbooks brought in a $21.8 million haul, which is 56.8% higher than the $13.9 million revenue that operators in the state accrued for December. The state on the other hand received $4.3 million more for its coffers from the taxes it collected in January’s sports betting activity.

Per TEL’s projections, the laudable performance is expected to continue through February. Preliminary data for the second month of the year indicates that sports bettors in the state parted with more than $15 million combined to wager on the Super Bowl LV showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. State officials estimate that local online sportsbooks will bag about $3 million in revenue from the big game alone.

Tough Competition Expected to Edge Out the Volunteer State

As good as things currently look for Tennessee right now and in the next month or two, the state’s sports betting market should be bracing itself for some rivalry. For starters, neighboring Virginia officially jumped into the online sports betting bandwagon in January meaning that the Volunteer State will now be having competition right under its nose.

Moreover, Tennessee also won’t be holding on to its records for too long as Michigan whose online sports betting market went live in January as well, is going to best the figures flat out. After only 10 days of taking wagers, from 22nd to 31st January, the Wolverine State had racked up a $115 million handle, compared to Tennessee’s $27.4 million handle for its debut week. By the time Michigan completes a full month of sports betting, it will without a doubt blow the Volunteer State’s $131 million first month record out of the water.