Tennessee Fines Bovada

The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council through its executive director issued $50,000 in fines Tuesday to Bovada.lv, which the regulator says is not licensed to operate in the Volunteer State.

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 16 October 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,” 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.”

Sources tell Gambling911.com that Bovada's use local searches in top search engines to make it appear as if the site has a casino or sportsbook located in specified regions of the US can constitute as a form of direct advertising.

Nearly a dozen states have thus far sent cease and desist letters to Bovada.  The company has pulled out of a number of markets including Michigan, Colorado and West Virginia in recent months.  It is not yet known whether Bovada will take similar actions in Tennessee.

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.

By  Nagesh Rath Born in Punjab, India, Nagesh has been writing for the Gambling911.com website since 2019.  He mostly covers the more controversial stories impacting the world of gambling, specializing in poker. Nagesh's favorite sport is cricket.  This beat reporter operates from our Miami Beach base where he resides with his wonderful wife Ravjeer and three daughters.