Tennessee Anti-Sweeps Bill Heads To Full Senate
There was little in the way of drama in Tennessee's Commerce and Labor Committee as Sen. Haile's anti-sweeps bill passed unanimously.
The Tennessee Senate's Commerce and Labor Committee unanimously passed SB 2136 on Tuesday, forwarding to the full Senate the legislation that would ban online sweepstakes casino operators.
State Sen. and Speaker Pro Temp Ferrell Haile's bill passed 8-0 with no discussion after he offered an amendment that further outlined the additional powers given to the state Attorney General's Office. Both the Attorney General's Office and the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council have expressed support for Haile's bill.
The companion bill in the House, HB 1885, filed by state Rep. Scott Cepicky, is scheduled to be heard in the lower chamber's Departments & Agencies subcommittee on March 3.
Expanding AG's power key
Haile's bill reaffirms what is and is not legal when it comes to gambling in Tennessee, a state that has no casinos but a robust online sports betting sector. SB 2136 "prohibits gambling; the operation of gambling devices; and the operation, conducting, or commercial promoting of online sweepstakes games and other forms of online or app-based gambling as offenses against the public health, safety, and welfare of this state."
The bill will continue to allow annual events for non-profit organizations authorized by the General Assembly in addition to the state lottery, sports wagering, and daily fantasy sports.
Haile's legislation would grant the Attorney General's Office civil enforcement authority to "seek civil injunctions against operators who are already criminally prohibited but not clearly subject to civil enforcement." The state senator said the bill also targets platforms "operating without age verification and oversight."
At the end of last year, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said his office had "successfully halted" multiple online sweeps operators. Skrmetti said the AG's office had "actively" followed up on nearly 40 cease-and-desist letters sent to sweeps operators, which included VGW, which runs Chumba Casino and Luckyland Slots, and MW Vegas, which runs WOW Vegas and Stake.
Chris Altruda was a sportswriter with ESPN, The Associated Press, and STATS for more than two decades before turning to the gambling industry at Sports Handle in 2019. When not crunching sports betting revenue figures,…
