by Jon Styf
Tennessee collected $4.9 million in sports gambling taxes in August, up more than $1 million from July, according to numbers released by the state’s Sports Wagering Advisory Committee.
The funds came from nearly $206 million of wagering with sports gambling sites from the state’s 12 online sports books making $24.4 million in adjusted gross income during the month.
Those numbers typically rise during football season. In 2021, the state had $144.5 million in wagers in both July and August before $257.3 million in wagers were placed in September.
But the taxes collected were just $2.0 million in August 2021 and $3.3 million last September.
Tennessee collects 20% of the industry’s net operator revenue in taxes. Of the sports gambling taxes, 80% of the taxes collected from sports gambling goes to education, 15% goes to the state for distribution to local governments and 5% goes toward mental health programs.
Sports wagering has grown in the state since it began in November 2020 with $131 million in wagers and $2.3 million in taxes collected.
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Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Stfy is a reporter for The Center Square.Â
