SPORTS BETTING

US – Tennessee sports betting falls in February

By Phil - 16 March 2022

Tennessee sportsbooks hit an expected post-football lull in February, posting the lowest betting volume since September.

“The Super Bowl is an important singular event, but it can’t fully replace a month filled with football games like January,” said Alec Cunningham, lead analyst for PlayTenn.com. “For that reason, February is always a slower month. But the lull doesn’t last long. March Madness should help the state’s sportsbooks challenge wagering records again, especially if Tennessee can make a deep run.”

Tennessee’s sportsbooks attracted $313.3m in wagers in February, up 77.7 per cent from $176.3m in February 2021, according to data released Tuesday by the Tennessee Sports Wagering Advisory Council. February’s handle was down 18.8 per cent from the record $386.1m in January and the lowest since sportsbooks took in $257.3m in wagers in September.

February’s bets produced $20.9m in gross revenue, up 61.1 per cent over the $13.3m in February 2021. But February’s win was down 42.2 per cent from $36.2m in January. Promotions whittled adjusted revenue to $15.1m, which yielded $3m in tax revenue.

The slowdown came in spite of $23.1m in bets on the Super Bowl, up from $15m in 2021.

Sports betting comes with seasonal ebbs and flows. January and March are typically much more lucrative months for sportsbooks than February and April and are baked into sportsbooks’ expectations.

More troubling for sportsbooks was the prospect of losing baseball, which is the most potent draw during the slower summer months. With the lockout ended and a full schedule on tap, those concerns have been alleviated.

“Sportsbooks breathed a sigh of relief that baseball will still play a full schedule, ensuring the primary bet generator during the summer months will be in action,” said Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA.com Network, which includes PlayTenn.com. “Operators can now look forward to the first truly normal sports year since 2019.”