Online Sports Betting Legislation Approved by Tennessee House of Representatives

It’s a big time for sports betting in the USA as Tennessee s the list of states that have green-lighted regulated sports betting within their boundaries. The necessary legislative piece was ed by The Tennessee House of Representatives.

The peculiar fact about their legislation is that it only allows online wagers…

…while another curiosity is that the legislation did not get the backing of the Tennessee Governor and it may not need his signature for it to fully go into effect.

The Reluctant Governor

The bill was approved, with 58 votes in favor and 37 against…

…in spite of opposition in the form of Governor, Bill Lee, who expressed his unease concerning legal sports wagering. Leadership of the House has said that Lee most likely will not veto the bill once it reaches his desk for signature, and it will reach him once the Tennessee Senate finishes debating the sports betting measure over the coming days.

Democrat, Rick Staples, who filed the bill, has said that he is happy the bill was approved and that regulated sports betting in this state will prevent it from losing money to neighboring states that already have this gambling vertical going.

According to the legislative piece, in order to place wagers via online methods, punters will have to be physically present within state.

A Unique Law

While the approval of the sports betting Act does not come as a surprise, since it’s been heading that way steadily for a couple of months now…

…it is different compared to other states’ initiatives in that it only permits online sports betting, making Tennessee the first US state to such a legislation.

The proposed bill came as a result of a discussion between state lawmakers from all state counties who felt urged to introduce their own measure, seeing as neighboring Mississippi already has an up and running sports wagering market that has done a lot of good.

Steve Dickerson, Republican Senator, expects a “huge amount of money” to come from sports betting, as “thousands of people are already engaging in other forms of online betting.”

Lee Promises His Review

In mid-April, the bill managed to get the approval from the Key House Committee…

…as Governor Lee was very vocal in his opposition to the bill or any form of expanded gambling in Volunteer State, expressing his duty, however, to go through every bill that reaches his desk. He said:

“We try to work with legislators to make a bill as palatable and as beneficial as it can be, but if we can’t get it to a point where we think it’s acceptable, then I won’t sign it. But this bill is moving and we’ll see where it ends up.”

Source:

“Tennessee House es Online Sports Gambling Bill”, Niji Narayan, April 26, 2019