NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council through its executive director issued $50,000 in fines Tuesday to Bovada.lv, an unlicensed and therefore illegal sportsbook operating in Tennessee.
Bovada failed to comply with cease and desist letters delivered to addresses in Curaçao, and Council investigators placed wagers through Bovada’s platform on three separate occasions, including as recently as October 16, 2024.
The Sports Gaming Act authorizes the Council to impose a $10,000 fine for the first offense of accepting wagers without a license, which rises to $15,000 for the second offense, and $25,000 for the third offense. Subsequent offenses may lead to the imposition of a $25,000 fine for each occurrence, an occurrence being a single wager accepted in Tennessee.
In the cease and desist letters, the Council ordered Bovada to allow all Tennessee users to withdraw any funds currently held by the unlicensed sportsbook.
“The Sports Wagering Council recommends that Tennessee users of Bovada withdraw their funds immediately,” Executive Director
Mary Beth Thomas said. “Our primary role is the protection of the public interest through a safe, regulated environment, and Tennessee sports bettors need to know that just because they can access a sports betting website or app inside Tennessee’s borders does not mean it is licensed to do business here.”
Legal sportsbook operators provide important bettor protections not found in the illegal market. If an individual wagers with unlicensed sportsbooks, their sensitive financial and personal information may not be protected and could even be shared with criminal enterprises. The bettor’s money could be withheld or disappear without a way to recover it.
The SWC is working closely with its network of law enforcement at the state and federal level to eradicate illegal sportsbooks such as Bovada and others.
Tennessee is the largest “online-only” sports betting market in the U.S., with more than $4.7 billion wagered in Tennessee last fiscal year through online sportsbooks licensed by the Council. For a list of sportsbooks legally licensed to do business in Tennessee, click here to visit the Council’s website.
Licensed sportsbooks must protect consumers, including holding reserves to pay wagers and keeping personal information secure. Licensed sportsbooks must also follow certain restrictions under state law, such as preventing individuals under 21 years old from wagering and prohibiting wagering on credit.
A study commissioned by the American Gaming Association estimates that Americans wager nearly $64 billion annually with illegal online sportsbooks and bookies.
About the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council
The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council’s primary role is to protect the public interest of Tennessee through a safe, regulated sports gambling environment. The SWC oversees the licensing and registration process for online sports wagering operators, sports wagering vendors, and fantasy
sports operators, and monitors and enforces compliance with the Tennessee Sports Gaming Act and the Tennessee Fantasy Sports Act and related rules, including the assessment of the State’s privilege tax on sportsbooks.
