Tennessee‘s Senate is ready to give its gaming regulator more power to evict sweepstakes casinos, but the discussion is delayed in the House.
The Senate unanimously passed SB 2136 on Monday, advancing legislation that would classify online sweepstakes casino platforms as unlawful gambling under state consumer protection law.
Meanwhile, the debate in a House subcommittee on its companion legislation, HB 1885, was continued until next week.
That same subcommittee, Departments & Agencies, also voted against moving HB 1768, which would have banned access to sports betting apps on college campuses.
Sweepstakes C&Ds sent already
SB 2136 expands enforcement authority for the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office and the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council, allowing the state to pursue operators that use dual currency systems permitting players to exchange virtual currency for cash or prizes.
State officials have issued 38 cease-and-desist letters over the past year, with all of those operators shutting down in the state.
During the subcommittee hearing on HB 1885, Senior Deputy Atty. Gen. J.P. Urban described sweepstake casinos as “an online epidemic” and noted his office is tracking nearly 400 companies.
Waiting for clarification in House
The House subcommittee then voted to delay action on HB 1885, sponsored by Rep. Scott Cepicky, for one week for more clarification after members raised concerned about the bill’s legal clarity and whether its definitions conflicted with existing gambling statues.
Rep. Ron Crawford said he was “really kind of concerned” about the lack of guidelines and the possibility the legislation could conflict with current law before moving to roll the bill for one week.
“This bill does not change any law in the state of Tennessee… it just creates a greater enforcement mechanism,” Cepicky said.
Campus betting ban faces pushback
House Bill 1768, sponsored by Rep. John Ray Clemons, failed on a 3-4 vote. The proposal would have required sports books to block wagering access on public college campuses and required universities to stop betting access on campus wifi networks beginning July 1, 2026.
Clemmons said the bill aims to, “address the alarming rise in sports betting among college students, which is costing families and the students themselves a lot of money.”
Opponents though argued the measure would not eliminate betting but would instead push activity off campus to nearby locations or cellular networks.
“I’m going to vote against the bill, because I think just in the real world, the way this is going to play out is you’re going to have a bookie somewhere on Cumberland Avenue sitting at a restaurant, and they’re going to text him from the dorm or from the fraternity and say hey, I want 20 bucks on Kentucky… and so you’re going to be having the bookies that are going to be doing it legally on Cumberland Avenue , as opposed to being on campus,” Rep. Greg Martin said.
Its companion legislation, SB 1831, has not yet been heard in committee.
