The good news for Fanatics Sportsbook: its mobile app is taking bets in Tennessee as the Volunteers march onward into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
The bad news for Fanatics Sportsbook: it’s still in a beta testing phase after two weeks and only a small group of invited bettors are using the app.
An eventual full launch would mark the first for the Fanatics app. The company was approved to move forward in early March by the Tennessee Sports Wagering Advisory Council. The app utilizes Amelco source code and software and is said to offer Fanatics loyalty points, according to beta testers who shared experiences with Gaming Today.
Fanatics Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Alex Smith was noncommittal at the time when asked by a committee member if the app would debut in time for March Madness, one of the top two most lucrative sports betting fests of the year.
Said Smith: “We hope you’re taking bets with us very, very shortly after this meeting.”
Fanatics expected the testing period to last longer than the two-day trial runs that typically precede full public launches. Prospective customers aren’t able to download and bet in Tennessee yet.
Video of the meeting will be posted here.
Said Fanatics in a statement:
On Wednesday March 1, Fanatics Betting and Gaming received approval from the Tennessee Sports Wagering Advisory Council to go live online in Tennessee with the Fanatics Sportsbook. We started this journey with the goal of developing the best product and experience for sports fans. Today, in Tennessee, we are giving a small group of customers access to our beta product to help us do just that. We are incredibly excited to work with our customers, get their feedback, and deliver the product that sports fans deserve for our public launch later this year.
Fanatics is primed for business in multiple states but has yet to begin taking mobile/online bets.
- The company has conveyed that it will not make the expected March 10 debut in Massachusetts.
- It has approval but has not launched in either Maryland or Ohio. The company has market access deals with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Cleveland Guardians in Ohio.
Fanatics did, however, open a retail sportsbook in Maryland this January. The company became the first to open a retail sportsbook inside an NFL stadium in partnership with the Washington Commanders at FedEx Field.
Implied probabilities are calculated using odds offered by DraftKings.
TEAM
ODDS
PROBABILITY
CHANGE
ALA Alabama
+340
22.73%
UH Houston
+360
21.74%
UCLA UCLA
+800
11.11%
UCON Connecticut
+900
10.00%
CREI Creighton
+1000
9.09%
TENN Tennessee
+1000
9.09%
UT Texas
+1000
9.09%
GNZG Gonzaga
+1200
7.69%
MSU Michigan State
+3000
3.23%
KSU Kansas State
+3500
2.78%
Last Updated: 2023-03-23 00:00:00 PDT.
What’s the National Plan for Fanatics Sportsbook?
Fanatics plans to open in as many as 20 states, according to CEO Michael Rubin. Like how DraftKings and FanDuel benefitted from bringing a massive daily fantasy sports customer base into their sports betting launches, Fanatics begins with 90 million in its sportswear and collectibles email list.
“In the betting business, we’re going to start launching in multiple states in January,” Rubin said in October at the 2022 CAA World Congress of Sports. “We’ll be in every major state, other than New York where you can’t make money, by next football season.”
Sports betting in Tennessee is limited to mobile and online options only. The state has no retail sports or casinos. Business has been good.
In 2022, Tennessee reported a record-high $440 million in sports wagers.
Twelve licenses are available, but only eight are currently active.
They are:
- BallyBet
- BetMGM
- Caesars
- DraftKings
- FanDuel
- Superbook
- Tennessee Action
- WynnBET
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