Tennessee’s sports betting volume declined to its lowest level since the first month of legalized wagering in the state.

May’s modest month-over-month drop in wagering from April is an expected result during what is the traditional offseason for sports betting, and the decline is in line with a nationwide trend of declining revenue over the last two months, according to PlayTenn analysts, which tracks the Tennessee gaming market.

“There is no avoiding a summer slowdown, especially in states like Tennessee where football has an outsized importance to sportsbooks,” says Jessica Welman, analyst for the PlayUSA.com network, which includes PlayTenn.com. “For the most part, though, sportsbooks in the state have been innovative enough in keeping bettors engaged with the NBA, hockey, baseball and other sports, to blunt the dips.”

Sportsbooks took in $160.9 million in wagers in May, according to official data. That is down 6.7% from $172.4 million in April, and the state’s lowest handle since November. May’s bets produced $15.4 million in gross gaming revenue, up from $14 million in April. Adjusted gross income hit $13.7 million, which yielded $2.7 million in tax revenue for the state.

With May’s win, Tennessee sportsbooks have now generated $109.9 million in gross gaming income, surpassing $100 million in revenue in just seven months.

Compared with the other major markets that have already reported May data, Tennessee’s month-over-month decline was steeper than New Jersey (up 8.9%), Indiana (up 7.6%), Colorado (up 1.9%), Iowa (down 2.9%), and Michigan (down 6.0%), but on par with Pennsylvania (down 6.7%). In April, Tennessee’s handle dropped 13.6% from March, outperforming all but New Jersey among the 10 largest markets.

Tennessee’s sportsbooks have been trying to capitalize on the Tennessee Titans’ acquisition of star receiver Julio Jones, which sparked interest in futures betting. Meanwhile, the race for market supremacy has only heated up, with BetMGM and FanDuel going head-to-head to top the market.

Hankook Tire wins GM award again

Nashville-based Hankook Tire was named a GM Supplier of the Year winner in General Motors’ 29th annual Supplier of the Year awards.

This is the fifth time Hankook Tire has received the award.

GM recognized 122 of its best suppliers from 16 countries for performance in the 2020 calendar year. The annual awards highlight global suppliers that distinguish themselves by exceeding GM’s requirements, in turn providing GM customers with innovative technologies and among the highest quality in the automotive industry.

Allegiant adds routes from BNA

Allegiant has announced new services from Nashville International Airport.

The new nonstop routes include flights from Nashville to Palm Springs, California; Melbourne, Florida; and Jacksonville.

The Palm Springs and Melbourne (Orlando area) routes are new nonstops from BNA. The service to all locations will begin in November, with Palm Springs offering a seasonal winter/spring schedule.

Details include:

• BNA-Jacksonville: Thu/Sun, beginning Nov. 18

• BNA-Melbourne: Thu/Sun, beginning Nov. 18

• BNA-Palm Springs: Seasonal, Wed/Sat, beginning Nov. 17

Return Queen offers services in Nashville

ReturnQueen, the exclusive shopping return service app, has recently launched in Nashville.

The company’s footprint now services over 6,100 ZIP codes nationwide.

ReturnQueen, an on-demand service that picks up, processes and sends back all your online shopping returns. This contactless service was created to be the solution to the biggest pain points in the shopping cycle including, printing labels, packaging items, waiting in line, driving to the post office and handling receipts.

This unique app allows users to view all their online purchases at a glance and choose which items they want to return. You can return as many items as you can fit into the return bag, provided by ReturnQueen. Membership options will be available to serve different customer needs. Asurion survey: Work, leisure travel mix

The ‘workcation’ trend is bringing vacation technology desires and frustrations into the spotlight, according to new research from tech care company Asurion, headquartered in Nashville.

The online survey of 500 Digital Nomads – people who are blending work with leisure travel – showcases the need for vacation rentals with more reliable tech amenities as more people embrace the remote work lifestyle.

Nearly all Digital Nomads (97%) say they’ll continue to mix work and vacation this year, with 75% saying they’ll do so often.

This explains why high-speed internet is their No. 1 must-have item in vacation rentals. Despite this, Wi-Fi issues are also their biggest frustration while on vacation. Challenges operating other tech devices in the rental, such as TVs or smart speakers, are the third biggest of frustration, behind rental cleanliness.

The Asurion Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research. Asurion offers 700 uBreakiFix stores and has ramped up its tech help to meet the needs of summer travelers.

CMT Music Awards on CBS exclusively

ViacomCBS has announced that on the heels of this year’s success, the CMT Music Awards will have its global premiere exclusively on CBS starting in 2022.

The annual ViacomCBS owned event will broadcast live from Nashville on CBS on a date to be announced.

For the 2022 event, CMT will kick off the company’s first ever Country Music Week by hosting weeklong special programming and events capped by exclusive director’s cut airings of the CMT Music Awards later on CMT and various ViacomCBS platforms.

This year, the awards saw more than a 10% increase in total viewers and dominated as the #1 most social program across all of television for the night. Across the six ViacomCBS network simulcast, P18-34 ratings saw a +32% increase over last year’s event.

XSOLIS receives $75M investment

XSOLIS, a Nashville-based health care technology firm focused on improving health care operations, has secured a $75 million minority growth investment from Brighton Park Capital.

A portfolio company of Nashville-based Powered Health, XSOLIS is an artificial intelligence-based software platform that helps national health systems and payers streamline the utilization management process. Brighton Park is a research-driven investment firm that specializes in partnering with growth-stage software, health care technology, information services and technology-enabled business services.

With this additional capital, XSOLIS will accelerate its growth by scaling operations, expanding its customer footprint and delivering new solutions to the market.

Trilliant report: Health services flat

Brentwood-based Trilliant Health has released its inaugural 2021 Trends Shaping the Post-Pandemic Health Economy Report.

Trilliant’s analysis was based on data from more than 70 billion claims representing 309 million unique patients.

Trilliant’s key finding is that, contrary to popular belief, future demand for health care services will be relatively flat to declining, and is significantly lower than pricing trends.

Annual inpatient admissions have declined by 2008-2016, while the number of hospitalists has almost doubled in the same time period. Looking ahead, Trilliant forecasts the average rate of growth for surgical services to range between 0.7% to 1.9% year over year through 2025, which is lower than 3% annual growth assumption commonly held. Moreover, future demand will not be meaningfully impacted by COVID-19 or by the increasing obesity of Americans, but primarily by population migration.

Trilliant finds telehealth demand declining as much as -37% from peak-pandemic highs.

Underlying Trilliant Health’s research is the premise that the U.S. health care economy represents the largest sector of the world’s largest economy globally but, for decades, the industry has not operated according to the basic economic principles of supply, demand and yield. Trilliant’s report highlights the inefficiencies of the health economy, reviews the impact of COVID-19 and makes data-backed forecasts of what the future for health care delivery will be in the years to come.

XOi, CES to continue partnership

Nashville’s XOi Technologies has extended its relationship with Comprehensive Energy Services.

XOi is a provider of a cloud-based mobile application that connects field service contractors with an in-depth online knowledge base. CES, a Florida company, provides commercial and industrial design-build-maintain mechanical contracting and plumbing.

“CES has been a leader in its market for nearly 30 years by combining top performance with impeccable service,” says Aaron Salow, XOi’s founder and CEO. “Like other forward-thinking companies XOi supports, CES is focused on identifying the critical tools that will allow them to meet those same high standards more efficiently.

“XOi’s automated workflows, transparent communication features and remote support options help CES continue to exceed the changing expectations their customers bring to the industry.”