Georgia Legislators Have Promising Bill to Legalize Sports Betting

Peach Staters May Be Able to Gamble On Sports Soon

Currently, Georgia is one of only 12 states in the U.S. where sports betting is not legal. Despite its prominent neighbor to the south (Florida) recently legalizing betting, Georgia is one of multiple states in the Southeast where anti-betting lawmakers have won out in the battle over legalization. However, that may change soon as a sports betting bill has been approved by a committee of the Georgia Senate. The next step is for the full state Senate to vote on Senate Bill 386 which, if passed, would become the authorizing Georgia sports betting legislation.

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The clever plan set up by the bill backers is to try and establish sports betting to be run under the already existing Georgia Lottery Corporation which, as you could imagine, operates the statewide lottery system. By doing so, legislators would be able to implement online sports betting without amending the state constitution. So, Senate Bill 386 would not need to be approved via a statewide vote as it may not garner the required support from the state’s residents at large.

As of right now, the bill — which was advanced out of the Georgia Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee via a 8-2 vote — needs a majority vote of the Georgia Senate and the Georgia House of Representatives and would need to be signed by Governor Brian Kemp (a Republican) as well.

The Likelihood of Passage

Well, this is a tricky question. Georgia’s state government is controlled by the Republican Party which, historically, has been less amenable to Georgia sports betting legislation on moral and even religious grounds. However, considering that 38 states — many of which are also controlled by Republicans in both legislative houses as well as the Governor’s seat — have already legalized sports betting, it is definitely possible that Georgia could follow suit.

The biggest advantage that Senate Bill 386, which only would legalize online sports betting and not in-person wagering like at a casino, has is that the framework for taxing revenue and putting it toward kindergarten programs and school scholarships already exists under the Georgia Lottery Corporation. Adjusted net revenues earned by the betting license operators would be taxed at 15% with those funds heading back to Georgia’s school system.

When framed in that way, the bill is a win-win-win for bettors, license operators and the state. However, like with all sports betting legislation, there are dyed-in-the-wool detractors would likely would not be swayed regardless of the specific structure of the bill. At present, the odds of the Georgia sports betting legislation passing the Senate seem decent while it’s more up in the air for the House.

How It Would Work

As of now, the bill would provide a maximum of 16 sports betting licenses. Each of the state’s major professional teams — the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Dream and Atlanta FC — and organizations like the PGA Tour, Atlanta Motor Speedway and the Augusta National Golf Club would get licenses. This would allow them to partner with sports betting sites to create their own operators.

The Georgia Lottery Corporation would also get a license of its own and would be responsible for giving out the seven remaining licenses to non-sports-organization operators. The buy-in application fee for each of those licenses is currently set at $100,000 and the annual license fee is $1,000,000.

It remains to be seen who or what types of businesses would be in line for those licenses but with Georgia as one of the top-ten most-populous U.S. states, there is certainly a lot of money to be made by the best sports betting sites in the state. So, one could imagine plenty of competition in the space to create the most user-friendly Georgia app beyond the likely DraftKings, FanDuel, MGM, Caesars and ESPN sites already on the market which will probably partner with the team and/or sports organization license-holders.

For gambling news, odds, analysis and more, visit Point Spreads Magazine.


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