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Tennessee Latest State to Report Record Sports Betting Handle in November

James Bisson

Last Updated: December 13, 2023 3:48 PM EST • 1 min 42 sec read.

Josiah-Jordan James of Tennessee as we look at the Volunteer State sports betting financials for January 2024.
Josiah-Jordan James and Jonas Aidoo of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrate a 3-point basket at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee. Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images via AFP.

The latest example of the popularity of the U.S. legal sports betting industry came Tuesday with the release of the Tennessee Sports Wagering Advisory Council (SWAC) November earnings report.

Volunteer State bettors came out in droves in November and in turn, set a new handle record for Tennessee sports betting apps. November's sports betting handle represented the first time that Tennessee sportsbooks have eclipsed the milestone $500 million mark.

It appears as though the launch of neighboring Kentucky sports betting, Virginia sports betting's continuing wagering successes, and the impending launch of North Carolina sports betting scene had little affect on Tennessee online sportsbooks.

Tennessee sportsbooks handle $517.1 million

Tennessee was not only able to better their previous legal sports betting record in November, but they were able to blow it out of the water. A total of $517.1 million was wagered with the Volunteer State's mobile-only sports betting platform.

The $517.1 million in bets reported by Tennessee's best sports betting sites in November easily eclipsed the previous high-water handle mark of $445.2 million for the state set in October. November was a 16.2% improvement from the previous SWAC report.

That figure is also a year-over-year improvement of just over $75 million, or 17.6% from the $439.5 million reported in November 2022.

Tax haul record

Revenue figures for Tennessee's best sportsbooks remain a complicated story. The SWAC didn’t reveal any sportsbook revenues but did provide the tax haul that state and local coffers benefitted from during the month.

In July, Tennessee changed the way it taxes its legal sports betting providers. Instead of taxing sportsbook operator revenues at a 20% rate, the SWAC is now taxing Tennessee sports betting apps 1.85% of their total handle. It was an unusual move that has so far had mixed results.

It has created a tax boon in some instances, but the new policy has been a bust in others.

In the case of November, the new tax rules turned out to be a good thing as a new tax contribution record was set off record Tennessee sports betting apps activity. A total of $9.5 million was generated for needy state and local coffers last month, bettering the nearly $8.2 million from October and topping the $9.03 million from November 2022.

The previous record for tax contributions for Tennessee sports betting sites was $9.4 million, which came in December 2022.

Upward trajectory

There had been some concern in the Tennessee legal sports betting industry that their platform could take a hit with competition from neighboring states, but we have seen steady increases in the Volunteer State’s sports betting handle since the kickoff of the NFL season. ESPN BET Tennessee is now live and could also spark the industry further in the state.

That said, some November reports in participating states have shown that Disney’s sports betting brand has yet to make a huge impact on any state’s bottom line.

Written By:
James Bisson
James Bisson is the Editor-in-Chief of Sportsbook Review. He has been a writer, reporter and editor for more than 20 years, and his work has appeared in more than 200 publications across North America. His first book, “100 Greatest Canadian Sports Moments”, was a hardcover best-seller in Canada in 2008. He has written more than 50 sportsbook reviews and dozens of other sportsbook-related content articles. James has also been quoted as a sports betting expert in USA Today and Sports Illustrated.