- Tennessee has legalized sports betting but has yet to launch its industry.
- Both of the AFC Championship teams would have sent bettors to the online Tennessee sportsbooks.
- The state is missing out on potentially millions in sports betting revenue under the circumstances.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With the Tennessee Titans sitting as one of the top four teams in the NFL this season, many sports bettors have put themselves in fantastic betting situations.
The Titans were given +5000 odds to win the Super Bowl when the season opened and are now only one game away from playing for a chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. While much work is still ahead for the Titans, the fact remains that with Derrick Henry leading the way, anything can happen.
The Titans are big underdogs coming into the AFC Championship versus the Kansas City Chiefs.
Now, the Titans are +650 to win it all – tied for the worst odds of the remaining four teams. However, many are focused on the odds for the Tennessee Titans and not on the missed opportunity for the state itself.
Tennessee Sports Betting Revenue
Though it would not have impacted the speed of legalization or regulation creation, Tennessee is missing out on the chance of a lifetime right now. Going into the divisional round, the Titans were the only team that was located in a state that had approved legal sports betting.
However, Tennessee’s mobile-only sports betting industry has yet to launch, as the final pieces are being put into place.
There is no true estimate as to how much money the state of Tennessee would make from sports betting if it were active right now, however, it is safe to say that it would be immense. Not only would Tennessee residents have been eligible to wager from their phones on the wild card, divisional, and conference championship games, but the state’s sportsbooks would have attracted neighboring residents.
At the moment, the only states that border Tennessee and offer legal sports betting are Arkansas and Mississippi. In Arkansas, less than five sportsbooks are active and none of them are approved to offer mobile sports betting. In Mississippi, there are over two dozen sportsbooks but none are approved for state-wide mobile betting.
In short, Tennessee would have been the heaven for playoff and Super Bowl betting for Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Though reports from the beginning of the season explain that Tennessee had the least amount of wagers on them to win the Super Bowl, betting on the NFL playoffs is a different story.
Add in the fact that neighboring Missouri is also the home state of the Titans’ next opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs, and it appears the entirety of the local betting action could have filtered through Tennessee’s books.
There still isn’t a set date for when legal Tennessee sports betting will launch, however, the case is clear that the opportunity was missed. Only time will tell if the Titans can continue their magical run in the postseason or if they can keep up their dominance heading into next season.
By that time, it’s a safe bet that Tennessee sports betting will be active, and sports bettors will be flooding the online books in order to get a piece of the action. While the amount of tax revenue the state could have collected in December and January is unknown, it will certainly become more clear next year when the sportsbooks begin taking wagers on the NFL.
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Michael has been writing about sports for over a decade and his focus on NFL betting action has followed suit. As a Baltimore Ravens fan, he has been heavily invested in the AFC North since the turn of the century. When he is not writing about football, you can find him on the beach, in a casino, or at a bowling alley.