When Tennessee lawmakers legalized sports gambling in 2019, they hoped it would create a new revenue source.
But nearly seven years later, while Tennessee’s sports gambling tax revenue exceeds $100 million, the state’s Lottery-funded scholarship program faces an $80 million budget deficit. Now, higher education officials are warning that if the funding hole isn’t addressed, the state will have to dramatically reduce costs, like the number of scholarships it offers.
“I can say pretty confidently that at least part of [the lottery revenue] reduction in the last several years has been thanks to legalized sports wagering,” Don Bruce, a professor with the University of Tennessee’s Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research, told a state Senate finance committee.
Read more at Tennessee Lookout.
