Tennessee users can no longer access Bovada.com or Bovada.lv as the offshore operator based in Curaçao exited the market. The news comes about two weeks after the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council imposed $50,000 in fines on Bovada for failing to comply with a cease-and-desist.
For a time, it had appeared that Bovada was departing from its strategy of exiting markets when directly asked to do so.
The Tennessee regulator confirmed that the illegal operator notified users in the state that it would shut down operations on November 5 and return their available balances. But although it eventually complied with the order, Bovada has not communicated with the regulator and shows not indication that it intends to pay the fines. That’s unsurprising, as Bovada has been similarly uncommunicative with other regulators, despite being faster to leave those other markets.
Billy Orgel, chairman of the Sports Wagering Council, emphasized the importance of the exit. He said,
Our licensed sportsbook operators provide important consumer protections not found in the illegal market, and the closure of Bovada’s virtual doors in Tennessee is an important step toward the eradication of unlicensed, illegal sportsbooks in Tennessee. One of the Council’s primary roles is the protection of the public interest through a safe, regulated environment, and our staff will continue to work closely with our network of law enforcement at the state and federal level to eliminate illegal sports betting.
Bovada took about as long to respond to the fines as it did to other regulators’ initial requests. While it didn’t respond to the cease-and-desist letters from Tennessee, the operator left the Volunteer State about two weeks after the regulator imposed the fines. In recent exits, such as Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, Bovada left about three weeks after first being ordered to do so.
Bovada’s shrinking US footprint
In the last six months, the list of US markets on Bovada’s restricted list has grown from five to 16. That wave of state exists began when the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) sent a cease-and-desist letter in May. Although Bovada operates offshore and out of states’ legal reach, the MGCB—known for being aggressive about unregulated gambling—threatened to take action against Bovada’s suppliers if the operator wouldn’t comply. That strategy appeared to work, and ten other states followed suit in rapid succession.
Colorado was the first to emulate Michigan’s approach. Since then, the list of states blocked by Bovada has come to include:
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New York
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- West Virginia
The growing list of jurisdictions targeting Bovada shows that the operator is complying, which could encourage additional states to follow.
Bovada still operates in one iGaming state: Rhode Island
While it no longer accepts players from seven of the eight states with legal iGaming, Bovada remains active in Rhode Island. That small state is the most recent jurisdiction to allow online casinos. It has yet to follow its peers in taking action against Bovada. That’s somewhat surprising given that iGaming revenue so far has been significantly below what the state forecasted, so there’s a lot of incentive to eliminate unlicensed competiton.
While it’s unknown how much gaming revenue Bovada pulls from Rhode Island’s legal market, it’s quite likely that there’s at least some impact on the state’s monopoly operator, Bally Casino. In September, the online casino generated just under $3.2 million in gross gaming revenue, with total revenue since launching in March being about $16.6 million. These numbers make it highly unlikely that Bally Casino can meet the state’s projected $69.3 million in gross gaming revenue for 2024, or even the more conservative $49 million forecast by Alex Weldon, then Managing Editor for Bonus.
The state may yet do Bally Casino a favor by going after Bovada. On October 4, Paul Grimaldi from the Rhode Island Department of Revenue told Bonus that the Rhode Island Lottery had referred the matter to the Gaming Enforcement Unit of the Rhode Island State Police and to the state Attorney General’s office.
About the Author
