SB 1662

This bill requires a vendor as defined under the Tennessee Sports Gaming Act to pay the sports wagering council ("council"") a fee in an amount equal to 25% of all compensation and payments received by the vendor from a licensee pursuant to a revenue sharing agreement. A vendor must pay the council no later than 30 days after the vendor receives the compensation or payment from a licensee pursuant to a revenue sharing agreement. The payments must be deposited into the public institution athletic program f und to support this state's public institutions and their athletic programs. This bill requires each vendor and licensee to provide all necessary information to support the fee as so provided to the council. I nformation so provided to the council must be kept confidential due to the proprietary nature of such information and must not be open to public inspection . ""VENDOR"" DEFINED The Tennessee Sports Gaming Act defines a ""vendor"" as a person who meets one or more of the following criteria:  Provides geolocation services, online sports wagering platform software, patron account management services/software, sportsbook risk management or odds-making services or software, sports data feeds or software, "" Know your customer "" or "" KYC "" software or services, or payment processing services .  Serves as an independent testing laboratory to assess interactive sports wagering platforms, integrity or security .  Has direct interface or interaction with patron accounts or interactive sports wagering platforms, as determined by the council .  Receives payment or compensation based on a revenue sharing agreement in which the vendor receives a percentage of the adjusted gross income of a licensee .  Provides similar services that are material to conducting interactive sports wagering, as determined by the council . However, a ""v endor "" does not include marketing affiliates who are compensated by a method other than a revenue sharing agreement . GRANT PROGRAM This bill authorizes the Tennessee higher education commission (""commission"") to award grants to public institutions to assist with eligible recruiting expenses. However, a dministrative expenses of the commission must not exceed 5% of a grant awarded. As used in this bill, a ""public institution"" means a four-year public institution of higher education located in this state that competes in at least three intercollegiate sports in an academic yea r, but does not include an institution of higher education g overned by the board of regents of the state university and community college system. This bill requires the commission to develop a formula for distributing the grants among public institutions that meets the following criteria:  The formula d etermines the number of full-time equivalent undergraduate students enrolled as students at each public institution .  The formula u tilizes inverse enrollment weighting, with public institutions with fewer enrolled students receiving higher grant amounts and public institutions with more enrolled students receiving lower grant amounts. This bill requires the commission to prioritize awarding grants to the six locally governed state universities and to establish procedures for grant applications. Public Institution Athletic Program Fund This bill establishes a special account in the state treasury to be known as the public institution athletic program fund ( ""fund"" ), which must be administered by the Tennessee higher education commission (""commission""), to assist public institutions and their athletic programs with eligible recruiting expenses. As used in this bill, ""e ligible recruiting expenses"" m eans all expenses that a public institution or its athletic program incurs attributable to the recruitment of intercollegiate athletes . Howeve r, such term d oes not include payments, benefits, or other forms of remuneration that are provided to an intercollegiate athlete for use of intercollegiate athlete's name, image, or likeness. This bill provides that t he fund consists of monies derived from the fee as described above deposited into the fund. The commission may also accept other funds, public or private, by way of gift or grant to the fund. This bill requires m oneys in the fund to be used by the commission to administer and distribute grants as described below. Rulemaking This bill authorizes the commission to adopt rules necessary for the administration of the grant program. Annual Report This bill requires the commission to submit a report to the speakers of the house of representatives and the senate, the chair s of legislative committees having jurisdiction over education matters, and the legislative librarian, no later than December 31 of each year, regarding the commission's administration of the fund. The report must include the obligated and unobligated balances of the fund as of June 30 of the reporting calendar year and the grants awarded in the immediately preceding fiscal year. Grant information must include the amount of the grant awarded, the recipient of the grant, and the impact the grants have had on the recipient's ability to attract talented intercollegiate athletes and compete nationally."