Tennessee bettors place more than $500M in gross sports bets in November

(The Center Square) – Tennessee collected $9.5 million in taxes on sports wagering in November, up from $9.4 million last November as the state’s sportsbooks accepted $517 million in gross wagers.

It was the first time Tennessee exceeded $500 million in gross wagers in a month.

Tennessee collected $8.2 million in taxes on $445.2 million of gross wagers in October.

Tennessee levies a 1.85% tax on gross handle, which replaced a 20% tax on adjusted gross income that was in place until July.

Tennessee sends 80% of its sports wagering taxes to the Lottery for Education Fund to pay for things such as the Hope Scholarship while 15% goes to the general fund of local governments and 5% goes to the state’s Department of Mental Health.

Tennessee’s Sports Wagering Council recently presented privilege tax estimates to Tennessee’s State Funding Board that showed a projected dip in this fiscal year’s tax collections. Tennessee collected $82.1 million in privilege tax on mobile sports wagers last fiscal year with $78.8 million projected this fiscal year and projections of $82.7 million next fiscal year before reaching a projected $86.9 million in taxes next year.