SPORTS BETTING

US – Tennessee sportsbooks sets new betting record in January

By Phil - 21 February 2022

Tennessee sportsbooks followed up a record-breaking January with another $23m in Super Bowl betting, much of which came in February. The flurry of action in January and early February was a strong start to what should be another year of growth for sports betting.

“The Super Bowl is always going to bring significant action, but five weekends of football in January that included an extra week of the NFL’s regular season and an expanded playoff was a particular boon for sportsbooks,” said Alec Cunningham, an analyst for PlayTenn.com. “With the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament just ahead, sportsbooks should continue to see high betting volume numbers before seasonally tapering off in the spring.”

Tennessee’s eight active sportsbooks accepted $386.1m in wagers in January, up 83 per cent from $211.3m in January 2021, according to data released Wednesday night by the Tennessee Sports Wagering Advisory Council. January’s total topped the record $375.3m that was collected in October.

Gross revenue was up 47 per cent year over year, to $36.2m from $20.9m in January 2021. Promotions whittled adjusted revenue to $29.1m, which yielded $5.8m in tax revenue.

January’s numbers did not include most Super Bowl wagering, which the SWAC also released Wednesday. Tennessee sportsbooks collected $23.1m in bets on the Super Bowl, up from $15m in 2021. Operators won $3.4m on those bets for a particularly high 14.9 per cent hold on the big game.

“Super Bowl betting volume was somewhat underwhelming, but sportsbooks made up for it by winning a high percentage of those bets,” said Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUS