Tennessee Sports Betting Fund Issue Sees Fines Levied
ZenSports Falls Short in Cash Reserves
The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council has fined ZenSports $60,000 for failing to maintain an adequate supply of cash on hand. The online sportsbook wasn’t handed one $60,000 fine, but rather three separate Level 4 fines of $20,000. Sportsbooks are required to carry enough cash to cover all outstanding liabilities. The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council found there were three occasions where there was a Tennessee sports betting fund issue with ZenSports. Deputy Director and General Counsel for the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council, Stephanie Maxwell, said the company was several hundred thousand dollars short on those three occasions. One reason the fines were so steep is that the matter was not self reported. It was discovered by the Council.
Eddie Ponce, from ZenSports, appeared by Zoom to speak on the Tennessee sports betting fund issue. He said the sportsbook added two individuals to the finance staff and they now manually review the financials on a daily basis.
“Regrettably, we didn’t have that in place,” Ponce said. “We’ve reinvested more into that area and we’re incredibly confident it will not happen again. So I can assure you will not be seen us on this issue in the future.”
Ponce said it was never a matter of not having the money to cover all of the wagers. It was more of an accounting error by not having the correct amount of funds where they needed to be.
“Obviously, the capital wasn’t an issue, it just was a calculation error,” he said. “But we now have that buttoned up. And rest assured that this is not something that we’re proud of. But it is what it is. I can assure you it won’t be repeat thing. I can say that.”
Fanatics Also Fined at Meeting
The Tennessee sports betting fund issue isn’t the only gambling news to come out of Tennessee. There is also the matter of Fanatics Sportsbook receiving $50,000 in fines. The sportsbook admitted that it activated the betting accounts of eight sports bettors who were on a self-exclusion list. The incident arose due to Fanatics taking over for PointsBet in Tennessee. The eight bettors came off the state’s self-exclusion list but remained on Fanatics’ own self-exclusion list. Six of the eight betting accounts did place wagers and Fanatics refunded any losses back to the bettor.
Fanatics, which is trying to become one of the best online sportsbook, received eight $6,250 fines. The fines were relatively low since Fanatics self-reported the incident. Fanatics did tell the Council that it had taken care of the problem and it should be resolved. The fines were considered Level 2 fines.
Fanatics Sportsbook has been operating in Tennessee since receiving its license in March 2023. The sportsbook is now operating in 20 states, quickly becoming one of the major players in the online betting scene. The company didn’t open its first sportsbook until January 2023, when it opened a retail location outside of FedExField in Maryland. It began offering its online sportsbooks later on in the same year. Fanatics now has 13 retail sportsbooks in the United States.
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