Tennessee Lottery investigating dozens of illegal wagers placed with online sports betting companies prior to Super Bowl 55

Tennessee’s first taste of sports betting during a Super Bowl resulted in tens of millions of dollars being wagered. A closer look at some of the betters resulted in red flags being raised by state examiners.

“Team compliance checks revealed significant anomalies in sports wagering being placed with two licensed operators,” said Tennessee Lottery CEO Rebecca Hargrove while addressing the group’s board of directors on an investigation on illegal wagering activity that took place weeks prior to Super Bowl 55.

Hargrove did not identify the two online gambling companies where the illegal activity took place due to the ongoing investigation.

Those compliance checks resulted in 74 gambling accounts opened by consumers being closed by lottery officials and data being handed over for additional review and possible criminal charges being filed. Several open bets were also canceled prior to kickoff.

Hargrove reported that the four licensed sportsbooks in the state collected $15.5 million in wagers and paid out more than $12 million in winnings.

(IMAGE: Associated Press)