Could Sports Betting Come To Tennessee?

NASHVILLE, TN -- After the May 14 Supreme Court decision finding a nationwide ban on sports betting unconstitutional, Tennessee lawmakers are starting to consider ideas that could bring the practice to the state.

In a 7-2 decision last week, the high court struck down a 1992 federal law that barred states - with the exception of Nevada, Montana, Delaware and Oregon - from legalizing betting on sporting events. New Jersey challenged the law as arbitrary and ultimately the court agreed, with Justice Samuel Alito saying that it's a policy decision best left to the states themselves.

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Tennessee law explicitly bars casino-style gambling while allowing for state-operated lottery. Under the Fantasy Sports Act, it allows Tennesseans to win money via playing fantasy sports, but that law does not include "A contest where the winning outcome is based on the score, point spread, or any performance or performances of any single actual team or combination of teams or solely on any single performance of an athlete or participant in any single actual event."

Broadly, the constitution is silent on sports wagering, though State Rep. Jason Powell, a Nashville Democrat, told WKRN he'd like to see a constitutional amendment on the issue and added that any revenue generated by sports betting would be minuscule to what could be made with casino gambling.

On the other side of the aisle and the other side of the Capitol, State Sen. Brian Kelsey, a Memphis Republican, said he'd like proceeds from sports wagering to go towards education, similar to the lottery, with, perhaps, physical locations in Nashville and Memphis accessible statewide via the Internet.

Gubernatorial candidates are starting to weigh-in, as well. U.S. Rep. Diane Black, a Republican, said she thinks Tennessee voters should have a say in whether the state should legalize wagering, an indication she agrees with Powell on a constitutional amendment.

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