TELC derives its legal authority from the Tennessee Education Lottery Implementation Law, which the General Assembly passed following a November 2002 Amendment to the state constitution establishing the lottery and approved by 58 percent of the voters.

[1][2] The TELC is responsible for the operation of a lottery, and is deemed to be acting in all respects for the benefit of the people of Tennessee.

It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL); it participates in the Mega Millions and Powerball games.

[3] On July 28, 2007, Tennessee switched from ball drawings to those using a random number generator (RNG).

[4] However, Powerball (which moved its drawings from MUSL's Iowa headquarters to Florida in 2009) continues to be ball-drawn; likewise, Mega Millions is ball-drawn in Atlanta, with the Megaplier RNG selection conducted in Texas, as California does not have the Megaplier option.

The minimum prize is a free Tennessee Cash QP ticket, for matching 2 main numbers.

The Tennessee lottery joined Cash4Life on November 1, 2015; it is also offered in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Live drawings are held on Monday and Thursday evenings at 9 pm Eastern Time on Livestream.