- Sports betting bill TN HB 1 passes in the House with 58-37 vote.
- The debate over sports betting gets very intense.
- Bill is now heading to the Senate for consideration.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee House lawmakers have passed a sports betting bill known as TN HB 1 on Wednesday with a 58-37 vote.
Debate Gets Extreme
The thing that was absolutely made clear about sports betting in Tennessee is not everybody is excited about it. Supporters for the bill said that illegal sports betting is already happening and legalizing it would bring them back to the right side of the law. But opponents against the bill used that phrasing to make comparisons to why they do not like the bill.
Representative Andy Holt said that if they are going to legalize sports betting, they should legalize methamphetamine so they can tax it. This is the same lawmaker that compared sports betting to slavery because people can become addicted to gambling.
He isn’t the only representative to have issues with the bill. Others in the House have said that they are not planning to support the bill because there is an ongoing drug crisis in Tennessee and sports betting would fuel that addiction.
Everyone’s concerns about sports betting did not go unheard, though. Right now, the sports betting bill will have a 20 percent revenue tax for the sports betting operators. Five percent of that is currently planned to be given to the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to develop gambling addiction programs.
Bet Anywhere You Want In Tennessee
One of the more unique things about sports betting in Tennessee is where you are going to be able to place your bets. The original bill had originally said that there would be brick-and-motor sportsbooks for people in Tennessee to visit. That part of the bill has actually been removed.
Thanks to that, Tennessee plans to be the first state to have only online and mobile sports betting. Since there will be no physical sportsbooks, the geofencing barrier would be around the state's borders. That means that people in Tennessee will be able to bet on sports no matter where they are in the state.
The Tennessee sports betting bill still has a long path ahead of it. TN HB 1 still has to pass the Senate before it could reach the Governor’s desk. Governor Bill Lee has also voiced that he is against the expansion of sports betting in Tennessee. If all those hurdles can be cleared, people in Tennessee will be allowed to bet on sports no matter where they are.