GA House Committee Bill Moves Fantasy Sports Forward
Bill Now Moves to Rules Committee For Approval
Georgia’s House Committee on Economic Development and Tourism approved a bill aimed at regulating daily fantasy sports. House Bill 1329 will now to the Rules Committee for approval. The GA House Committee bill approval wasn’t unexpected. But it’s still part of a lengthy process certain legislators are trying to get through during the session.
The bill authorizes those age 19 and older to be able to legally play daily fantasy sports games through companies licensed in the state. DFS companies would have to pay an annual license fee to operate in the state. Those fantasy sports companies that saw adjusted gross fantasy revenues of more than $5 million for the previous 12 months before submitting their application will be required to pay a $100,000 application fee and $1 million license fee. Those with revenue of less than $5 million will have no application fee and just a $5,000 annual license fee.
During Tuesday’s hearing, bill sponsor Rep. Ron Stephens said that fantasy sports was already legal in Georgia. He said roughly 250,000 state residents were playing DFS games without the safeguards that go with regulation. He wanted his fellow legislators to simply regulate something that was already taking place. Stephens said the the bill would raise money for the state’s HOPE Scholarship and pre-K funds.
Stephens was joined by representatives from PrizePicks, Underdog and the Coalition for Fantasy Sports. PrizePicks and Underdog have gotten the boot from several states recently, with those states saying the DFS pick’em games they offer resemble sports betting. PrizePicks is based in Georgia and Stephens said the bill “champions local business.”
‘A Game of Skill’
There was some pushback against the bill from anti-gambling forces, but Stephens said, “Sports betting is a game of chance, this is a game of skill, like checkers or chess.” The others who appeared with Stephens tried to differentiate the difference between betting on fantasy sports and making traditional wagers against the Las Vegas betting odds.
There is plenty of competition among sportsbooks for the being one of the best gambling sites. But there isn’t the same number of daily fantasy companies. So it’s not likely the GA House Committee bill will generate anywhere near the money online sports betting does. But it is a start for the state. Stephens said the bill could raise as much as $50 million annually for Georgia. But that likely could be affected depending on how the sports betting bills in the legislature fare.
The GA House Committee bill would see daily fantasy sports regulated by the Georgia Lottery. The bill calls for a tax of 20% of the adjusted gross fantasy revenues.
Rep. Yasmin Neal proposed an amended version of the bill that would have allowed training in the fantasy sports industry. Funding for the fantasy sports industry would have gone through the Georgia Technical College system and the state’s historically Black colleges and universities. But the amendment was defeated.
There is speculation the bill and the proposed sports gambling bills will be merged together in some form. Even Stephens commented on the two separate bills being somewhat similar.
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