With the current legislative session rapidly approaching its close, the state of Georgia’s House of Representatives is scrutinizing a bill that could potentially pave the way for legal mobile sports betting throughout the Peach State. This development comes more than five weeks after the Georgia Senate moved forward with SB 386, sparking intense discussions about the future of sports gambling in the region.
During a House Higher Education Committee session on Tuesday, lawmakers took a closer look at the bill, although they stopped short of casting any votes. Discussions are expected to resume later in the week, but the committee’s chair, Representative Chuck Martin, indicated that a vote on the legislation was not on the immediate horizon.
The current framework of the bill would create a total of 16 online sports betting licenses. This would include eight licenses linked to professional sports teams and organizations in Georgia and seven standalone licenses available to other applicants. An additional license would be specifically reserved for the Georgia Lottery, which would also serve as the governing body for the new betting framework. This proposal deviates from past iterations by incorporating a Senate amendment that would refer the ultimate decision for sports betting legal status to Georgia voters.
Georgia’s major professional sports franchises, along with the Augusta Country Club, PGA Tour, and Atlanta Motor Speedway/NASCAR, are all positioned to qualify for these coveted licenses. As the dust from the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) continues to settle following its repeal by the U.S. Supreme Court six years ago, Georgia emerges as one of the largest states vetting a serious proposal for sports betting this year.
Senator Clint Dixon, who sponsored the bill, enumerated several key features before the House committee: the incorporation of college sports betting, a 20% tax rate on gaming revenues, and the provision that bettor accounts could only be topped up with cash. Additionally, entities interested in securing a license would encounter a $100,000 application fee coupled with an annual renewal fee of $1 million.
The committee session served as an informative backdrop as Dixon fielded inquiries concerning the inclusion of daily fantasy sports in the bill, the decision to add a constitutional amendment, and the channels through which tax funds from sports betting would be utilized.
There has been a push to include daily fantasy sports (DFS) under the bill’s umbrella, but a potential inclusion hit a roadblock after a related bill failed to advance in the House on March 1st. However, several delegates remain interested in incorporating DFS into the sports betting legislation, and Dixon has signaled openness to such an amendment.
Stakeholders from the fantasy sports industry made their case for inclusion. Stuart Wilkinson, representing the fantasy sports operator PrizePicks, headquartered in Atlanta, urged lawmakers to consider DFS as part of the lawful betting landscape. PrizePicks, alongside entities such as Underdog and Betr, who are members of the Coalition for Fantasy Sports, highlighted the potential for additional tax revenue that legal and regulated fantasy betting could generate.
Despite the economic incentives suggested by proponents, the bill has met with resistance from a coalition of faith-based and anti-gambling advocates. Such groups argue that the societal costs of gambling, exemplified by issues like addiction and financial instability, could potentially eclipse any fiscal benefits to the state. This was underscored by statistics from New Jersey that outlined a near balance between tax revenues from gambling and the social costs in areas such as welfare, homelessness, and criminal justice.
As the discussion about where the betting tax revenue should be allocated continued, education remained a focal point, with the possibility of refining which specific educational programs would benefit from these funds.
The legislative situation remains fluid as the Georgia General Assembly winds down its session, which adjourns on March 28. Previous years have seen several rounds of debate regarding the expansion of gambling without decisive outcomes or the leverage of the issue for political advantage. The latest developments in the Georgia House will be pivotal in determining whether the state will join the ever-growing number of U.S. jurisdictions that have embraced regulated sports betting.
