World Cup drives betting action in Tennessee in June

• Soccer boosts betting in Tennessee
• The state recorded 30% year-over-year increase in total betting handle in June
• Taxes on sports betting last month increased by $2m year-over-year to $8.4m

Several weeks of soccer action resulted in a significant uptick in the wagering handle recorded by sports betting operators in Tennessee, newly released data suggests.

A slow month records solid betting handle increase

Traditionally, June is recognized as a quieter month with fewer sports events and a low point when it comes to betting action across the United States.

Considering that major popular sports like football, hockey and basketball have all wrapped up by that time, usually it is up to baseball to drive betting in June.

However, there’s an exception this year, which is the FIFA World Cup, the most awaited soccer tournament of the year.

Generally, American football often drives more action when compared to soccer but in June, that likely wasn’t the case, especially in Tennessee, where bookmakers recorded a significant uptick in the total wagers.

The World Cup kicked off on June 11 and will run through July 19, 2026.

In Tennessee, data from the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council reveals that this June, the total gross sports betting handle hit $456.1m.

The latest result, compared to the corresponding period in 2025, suggests a significant year-over-year increase.

Per data from the Council, in June 2025, the total gross sports betting handle in Tennessee halted at $350.9m.

Comparing the two figures suggests that this year in June, the gross wagering handle increased by a whopping 30%.

At the same time, the gross betting handle recorded in June marked an increase when compared to June 2024, when the handle halted at $342.2m.

Compared to June 2024, the latest result also marked an increase of more than 30%.

Collected betting tax in June jumps

Equally as important, taxes on wagering collected by Tennessee last month increased year-over-year.

In total, the state collected $8,438,391 taxes from betting in June this year.

Notably, the taxes collected last month were approximately $2m more, or 30.3% higher when compared to the $6.4m in taxes on betting collected in June 2025.

A similar increase is observed when the latest result is compared to June in 2024.

Undoubtedly, the uptick in soccer betting during the World Cup in June played a major role in the latest result.

Still, the gambling watchdog in Tennessee didn’t release a detailed report highlighting which sport attracted the most betting activity.

Tennessee legalized sports betting in 2019 and officially launched legal sports wagering in November 2020.

Data from the American Gaming Association reveals that at the end of 2025, there were 10 legal online sports betting platform operating in Tennessee.

In 2025, the sports betting market in the state posted $700.2m in total revenue, recording a 22% year-over-year growth.

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