Tennessee Legal Sports Betting: Apps, Accounts, and Taxes

Legal sports betting in Tennessee runs entirely through licensed mobile apps. There are no retail sportsbooks, casino windows, or betting kiosks anywhere in the state. Anyone 21 or older who is physically inside Tennessee when they place a wager can bet with one of the nine operators licensed by the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council (SWC), the agency that regulates the industry under the 2019 Tennessee Sports Gaming Act.¹²

Who Can Place a Bet

State law defines a bettor as someone at least 21 years old, physically located within Tennessee at the moment of the wager, and not on the prohibited list.³ You do not have to live in Tennessee. Visitors can bet as long as they are inside the state when the wager goes through.⁴

Certain people cannot bet at all. Tennessee Code § 4-49-112 bars athletes, coaches, officials, employees of sports governing bodies, and operator employees who have access to non-public information. Anyone on the SWC’s voluntary self-exclusion list is also prohibited.¹

The Licensed Sportsbook Apps

As of 2026, nine operators hold active sports wagering licenses in Tennessee:²

Caesars Sportsbook (American Wagering, Inc.)
Bally Bet (Bally’s Interactive, LLC)
FanDuel Sportsbook (Betfair Interactive US LLC)
BetMGM (BetMGM, LLC / Roar Digital)
DraftKings (Crown TN Gaming LLC)
Fanatics Sportsbook (FBG Enterprises Opco, LLC)
bet365 (Hillside Tennessee LLC)
theScore Bet (Penn Sports Interactive, LLC)
Hard Rock Bet (Seminole Hard Rock Digital, LLC)

Every licensed app has to follow the same SWC rules on consumer protection, responsible gambling features, and financial reserves. Offshore sportsbooks that market to Tennessee residents are not licensed here. You lose those protections if you use one, and placing bets through an illegal operation can carry criminal penalties under Tennessee law.

What You Can Bet On

Licensed operators offer the usual professional sports markets: moneylines, point spreads, over/under totals, parlays, futures, and fixed-odds bets. Wagering on e-sports is also permitted, defined in the statute as competitive multiplayer video games where skill rather than chance determines the outcome.³

College games are the exception worth knowing. You can still bet the final result of a college game and place pre-game wagers, but Tennessee bans in-game prop bets on college events, meaning no live wagers tied to an individual player’s performance such as passing yards or rebounds. The SWC strengthened these rules in 2025.⁵ The NCAA has pushed states to eliminate college player prop bets entirely, citing harassment of student-athletes.⁶

Opening a Sportsbook Account

SWC rules require every operator to run a “know your customer” check before activating an account. You will need to provide:

Your legal first and last name
Date of birth
Social Security number (the last four digits may suffice)
Residential address (not a P.O. box)
Phone number
Email address

The operator checks that information against third-party data sources. If the automated verification succeeds, the account usually activates within minutes.¹

When the automated check cannot confirm your identity, the operator has to use a secondary step. That can be knowledge-based questions drawn from public records, phone number verification through a third-party database, or uploading a government-issued photo ID for manual review. A photo ID upload is not required in every case, but it is the most common fallback.¹

Depositing, Betting, and Getting Paid

Each app’s geolocation software confirms you are inside Tennessee every time you try to place a bet, not only when you log in. Pick an event, add it to the bet slip, enter your stake, and confirm. Odds move in real time, so the line you saw a moment ago may shift slightly before you lock in the wager.

Deposits generally clear quickly through linked bank accounts, debit cards, or electronic wallets. Withdrawals go through the app’s cashier section and are subject to a security review. Most operators quote a one to three business day window, with bank transfers usually slower than electronic wallet payouts.

Taxes on Your Winnings

Tennessee has no personal income tax on gambling winnings, so the state itself takes nothing from your profits. Federal taxes are a different story. All gambling winnings count as taxable income under federal law, no matter the amount.

For sports wagers placed in 2026, the sportsbook has to file a Form W-2G when your winnings reach $2,000 or more and are at least 300 times your stake. That threshold rose from $600 in prior years because of an inflation adjustment taking effect for the 2026 calendar year.⁷ You get one copy, the IRS gets the other.

Withholding kicks in at a higher number. When sports winnings exceed $5,000, the operator withholds 24% for federal income tax before paying you.⁸ Winnings below those thresholds are still taxable income. You just have to report them yourself on your return.

You can deduct gambling losses, but only up to the amount of gambling income you reported for the year, and only if you itemize on Schedule A. Win $3,000 and lose $4,000, and your deduction is capped at $3,000. The extra $1,000 cannot be carried forward. Save your account statements and bet history; the records make tax filing much easier.⁹

Responsible Gambling and Self-Exclusion

Every licensed app has to offer deposit limits, time limits, and temporary cool-off periods during which you cannot place any wagers.¹⁰

If those tools are not enough, the SWC runs a statewide voluntary self-exclusion program. You can choose a ban of one, three, or five years. This is not an account closure with a single app. Once you file the form, the SWC distributes your information to every licensed operator in the state, and all of them have to block you from depositing or betting for the period you selected. Marketing from those operators stops as well. Some operators may extend the ban to their properties in other states, including land-based casinos and online platforms elsewhere.¹¹

If Something Goes Wrong With an Operator

The SWC handles licensing, operator compliance, and enforcement under the Sports Gaming Act. Among other things, it audits licensees’ financial records and verifies that each one maintains the bond reserves needed to cover obligations to bettors.¹²

If you have a dispute with a licensed sportsbook over a payout, a voided bet, or an account issue, you can file a formal complaint through the SWC’s website. The Council investigates and can take enforcement action against operators that break state rules.¹³ That recourse does not exist with offshore sites.

Why Your App Stops Working at the State Line

The federal Wire Act prohibits anyone in the business of betting from transmitting wagers or wagering information across state lines by wire communications.¹⁴ The geolocation check on your sportsbook app is not just a Tennessee requirement. It reflects that federal prohibition. Drive into Alabama, Mississippi, or any other neighboring state, and the app will refuse your wager as soon as your phone crosses the border. Tennessee does not currently participate in any interstate sports wagering compact.

1
Tennessee Secretary of State. Tennessee Rules of the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council – Chapter 1350-01 Sports Gaming License Standards
2
State of Tennessee. Approved Licensees and Registrants
3
Justia. Tennessee Code Title 4 Chapter 49 Part 1 – Section 4-49-102
4
Tennessee Sports Wagering Council. FAQs
5
Tennessee Sports Wagering Council. Sports Wagering Council Strengthens Rules, Regulations
6
NCAA. NCAA Urges Gambling Commissions to Eliminate Prop Bets
7
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms W-2G and 5754
8
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms W-2G and 5754
9
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 419, Gambling Income and Losses
10
Tennessee Sports Wagering Council. SWC – Don’t Let Wagering Become a Problem
11
State of Tennessee. Tennessee Voluntary Sports Wagering Self-Exclusion Application
12
State of Tennessee. About the Sports Wagering Council
13
State of Tennessee. Tennessee Sports Wagering Council
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1084 – Transmission of Wagering Information