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A resolution supporting HB824/SB1029 currently pending in the Tennessee General Assembly to prohibit sports betting license holders from allowing bets to be taken where alternative financial services establishments provide flex loans, title loans, deferred presentment loans, or check cashing.
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WHEREAS, the Tennessee Sports Gaming Act, codified as Part 3, Chapter 51 of Title 4 of the Tennessee Code Annotated, provides a mechanism for persons to obtain a license to offer sports betting to customers; and
WHEREAS, T.C.A. ? 51-4-318 provides that the holder of a state license to accept wagers from bettors on sporting events shall not offer, accept, or extend credit to a bettor; and
WHEREAS, despite this prohibition on extending credit, on January 6, 2021, the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation Sports Wagering Advisory Council granted a sports betting license to Action 24/7, which is a sports book operation affiliated with Advance Financial; and
WHEREAS, Advance Financial is a state-licensed alternative financial services operation headquartered in Nashville with more than 100 physical storefronts in Tennessee that provides high fee, high interest loans to persons who often cannot obtain credit through traditional financial institutions; and
WHEREAS, the license granted to Action 24/7 now enables Advance Financial to serve both as a lender of high interest loans and a store where a customer can deposit funds for gambling; and
WHEREAS, studies from the Florida Family Policy Council and University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) have shown that persons living in lower income households are twice as likely to have gambling problems than the general population; and
WHEREAS, HB824 sponsored by Rep. Jernigan and SB1029 sponsored by Sen. Briggs would prohibit a sports betting license holder from allowing a person placing a bet or wager to engage in the following activities in the same building where the person placed the bet or wager: (1) ...
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