Sports betting is right around the corner for Tennesseans.
The Tennessee Education Lottery’s (TEL) Sports Wagering Advisory Council held a special meeting Friday, Oct. 16 to discuss the approaching Nov. 1 launch.
During the meeting, the TEL approved an initial list of sports available for players to bet on.
Preliminary discussions offer a glimpse at what legal sports betting might look like in Tennessee.
Sports betting launch details are still being worked out
The TEL remains optimistic about the state’s Nov. 1 launch date, though the committee is still working behind the scenes to lock it down.
The team continues round-the-clock work reviewing licenses and addressing any outstanding issues.
One recurring point of prolonged discussion during the meeting was collegiate wagering. Dialogue ultimately decided that no individual college prop wagers on athletes will be permitted whatsoever.
Pre-game collegiate prop bets were also discussed. Questions of whether to permit prop bets such as total passing yards and rushing yards were also raised.
The argument being, individual athlete statistics factor into those types of bets, and therefore could get murky if permitted.
While some of these questions are still up in the air, the committee approved an initial list of sports that can be wagered on.
The initial list of approved sports for wagering
A full list of sanctioned sports that bettors are pre-approved to wager on is now available, though the TEL cautions this list may change over time.
Sportsbooks are cleared to take action on all major sports, as well as fringe sports including table tennis, bowling, bull riding, darts and rowing.
Wagering will also be permitted on eSports, though operators must submit each league and its events to the TEL for official approval. Once an operator submits a new game for authorization, the board has 72-hours to make its decision.
Here is the complete list of initial events players will be able to wager on in Tennessee:
Uncertainty continues as launch date nears
In total, 17 new vendor licenses were approved during the meeting as well, improving the odds of a successful Tennessee launch.
The first three conditionally approved sportsbooks – DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM – are set to go live as scheduled. Action 24/7 may require a few more days, pending the approval of its supplier.
The idea of a soft launch was tossed around, though there was no solid conclusion on the matter.
In this case, sportsbooks would be able to begin taking bets a couple hours or days earlier than Nov. 1. to ensure the platforms are fully operational.
Only time will tell how (and when) sports betting will lift off the ground in Tennessee.
What we do know is that the over/under for live action is still set for Nov. 1, however tentatively.
