Tennessee Lawmakers Hope to Ban Online Sports Betting on College Campuses

• Two bills have been introduced to ban online sports betting on college campuses
• The bills would also ban online sports betting at certain off-campus sports venues
• Bills likely introduced in response to recent NCAA sports betting scandals

At least two legislators are hoping to ban Tennessee online sports betting throughout college campuses and college sports venues in the Volunteer State.

Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-21) and Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-55) both introduced pieces of legislation to effectively ban online sports betting “on the campus of an institution of higher education” throughout Tennessee.

The newly proposed laws come on the heels of a recent NCAA basketball sports betting scandal which allegedly saw 39 NCAA basketball athletes accept bribes to affect the outcome of at least 29 DI games.

Campuses, College Sports Venues To Be Banned

Yabro’s bill, SB 1831, and Clemmons’ bill, HB 1768, are identical pieces of legislation that seek to prohibit online sports betting access to college campuses throughout the state. The bills define a college campus as the following:

“Means the geographical boundaries of an institution of higher education’s primary contiguous campus property, including the entirety of any parcel of non-contiguous property or satellite facility of the institution within one (1) mile of any boundary of the institution’s primary contiguous campus property that is used for student residential or communal purposes, but excluding those used solely for classrooms, maintenance, administrative purposes, or storage.”

Additionally, the bills will also prohibit online sports betting access at college sports venues that may be off campus. Licensed sports betting operators will be required to prohibit online sports betting access at a sports venue “utilized for sanctioned collegiate or athletic sports or sports events” for an entire calendar day on which a college sporting event is being held.

HB 1768 is currently in the House department and agencies subcommittee, while SB 1831 was introduced and passed on first consideration.

Prohibitions After Sports Betting Scandal

The newly introduced laws came several days after 26 individuals were indicted for alleged roles in fixing NCAA basketball games and Chinese Basketball Association games.

The individuals named in the indictment allegedly bribed 39 NCAA athletes on more than 17 NCAA Division I teams, leading to more than 29 games being fixed. According to the indictment, 15 of the individuals in the scheme played NCAA basketball in either the 2023-2024 or 2024-2025 seasons.

“To capitalize on this scheme, the fixers made wagers totaling millions of dollars, generating substantial proceeds for the fixers and the players who collectively received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribe payments for fixing their teams’ basketball games. The point-shaving schemed corrupted the integrity of NCAA college sports contests and the sportsbooks accepting wagers on those contest and caused sportsbooks and individuals sports bettors to suffer financial losses,” according to the indictment.

Two of the defendants, Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley, were also included in recent federal indictments for a sports betting scandal that included Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier.

Hennen and Fairley, plus defendants Jalen Smith, Roderick Winkler, and Alberto Laureano, allegedly recruited NCAA players to accept bribe payments in exchange for influencing outcomes of games. The fixers would attempt to recruit several athletes on a team to ensure the schemes would succeed.

After successfully bribing athletes, the individuals would then place bets through sportsbooks, wagering against the team of the players they had bribed to manipulate their performances.

The following former NCAA athletes were included in the indictment:

• Arlando Arnold
• Simeon Cottle
• Kevin Cross
• Bradley Ezewiro
• Shawn Fulcher
• Carlos Hart
• Markeese Hastings
• Cedquavious Hunter
• Oumar Koureissi
• Alberto Laureano
• Da’Sean Nelson
• Demond Robinson
• Camian Shell
• Dyquavion Short
• Airion Simmons
• Jalen Smith
• Jalen Terry