SportsHandle and friends deliver another round-up of the week’s big developments in US sports betting.

Serious Concerns Bubbling Up Around Tennessee’s Sports Betting Future

Tennessee emerged in the spring as a dark horse “legal sports betting state” through the passage of SB 16, which legalized sports wagering in the Volunteer State for mobile/online applications only, becoming the first piece of legislation of its kind in the U.S.  As the deadline nears for the submission of public comments on the draft regulations released in late November, there are growing concerns among stakeholders and sports bettors that plans for the future of the legal market in the state may fall into a cloak of darkness — ultimately creating a fundamentally flawed market with few options and little reason for celebration.

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Brick And Mortar Sportsbooks Are Indeed Coming To Michigan

When the Michigan Senate last week sent a package of iGaming bills to Governor Gretchen Whitmer for signature, nothing in the language itself explicitly legalized sports betting at brick-and-mortar sportsbooks. But according to key bill sponsor Brandt Iden, the language wasn’t there, because it didn’t need to be. It’s technically been legal to bet on sports at a bricks-and-mortar sportsbook in Michigan since the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in May 2018.

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Chief Louisiana Regulator: Driving Toward Legalizing Sports Betting In 2020

The conversation about legal sports betting in Louisiana has hemmed and hawed, and for the time being, neighboring Mississippi continues to draw residents seeking to make legal sports wagers. During Louisiana’s 2019 legislative session, 11th-hour amendments were made to SB 153, the bill that would have paved the way for sports betting in the state, undermining its support and momentum until it was eventually voted down in the House in June.

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Illinois Lottery In Holding Pattern on Sports Betting

Tucked in near the middle of Illinois Senate Bill 690, an 816-page measure that legalized sports betting in the state this summer, is a six-page section devoted to creation of a pilot program that could bring a sports lottery to the Land of Lincoln.

It appears the Illinois Lottery has yet to put out a Request for Proposal, inviting potential operators to bid. Illinois Lottery Communications Director Jason Schaumburg confirmed in an email exchange this month that “no applications have been solicited or received.” Similar to Delaware, the sports lottery in Illinois would be parlay only: Bettors have to pick multiple games and be correct on each in order to receive a payout.

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Why Is NFL Home-Field Advantage Dying And How Can Bettors Exploit It?

Home-field advantage has never been quite as pronounced in football as it is in, say, baseball or hockey.

In those sports, there’s an actual built-in advantage in the rules of the game: The home team in baseball bats last and knows exactly how many runs it needs to score, and home ice in hockey means making the last change before every faceoff, getting to decide which lines match up. In the NFL, on paper, it’s a totally fair fight. The rules are the same for both teams.

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