The odds of Georgia legalizing sports betting anytime soon look like they are long and getting longer.
Members of the Georgia Senate’s Committee on Regulated Industries and Utilities met Thursday in Atlanta and considered Senate Resolution 131, which would let voters decide whether to allow sports betting and casino gambling in the state.
“This constitutional amendment would lift the prohibition that has held us back for so long,” said Republican Sen. Carden Summers, one of the resolution's sponsors. “It gives the people of Georgia the power to decide whether they should regulate and tax casino gambling and sports betting, while keeping revenue here, instead of watching it flow to Florida, Mississippi, or other illegal markets.”
But, after about a half-hour of discussion (and some testimony opposing the resolution), it became clear there wasn’t even enough support on the committee to put the ballot question to voters.
When a motion to pass S.R. 131 was moved, it failed by what appeared to be a 9-2 margin on a vote by a show of hands. The rejection by the Senate committee means it is the end of the road for the proposed measure.
House of Pain
One of the issues for senators was the reluctance of their counterparts in the legislature’s other chamber, the Georgia House of Representatives, to pass gambling legislation.
“I don't know if I'm willing to fall on the sword again,” Democratic Sen. David Lucas said during the committee meeting. “The House has not done anything, and we have constantly tried to work it out various ways on this, and they've never taken it up.”
The House has indeed been a sticking point in getting sports betting-related legislation across the finish line in Georgia. While the Senate passed such a bill last year, the efforts then hit a roadblock in the House.
“If the House isn't interested, then I don't see why we would want to put our people through this again,” Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch added later.
The Senate committee's rejection of S.R. 131 is a sign that efforts to legalize sports betting in Georgia are going to be an uphill climb this year, and that may be putting it politely.
While there is another sports betting-related measure that's been proposed in the Senate this session, Senate Bill 208, it has not made much progress yet.
The Georgia General Assembly is also scheduled to adjourn on April 4. For any bill to have a chance of becoming law, it must be passed by one chamber and cross over into the other by March 6, a week from now.
States like TX, GA, & AL are leaving millions in tax revenue on the table by keeping sports betting in the shadows.💸 Since 2018, legalized sports betting has generated $7.1B+ in taxes, funding education, infrastructure, civil services & responsible gaming.
— GeoComply (@GeoComply) January 17, 2025
👉Read more:… pic.twitter.com/RmLTHhr7v5
A possible silver lining is that the other sports betting-related measure in the Senate is a bill and not a resolution, meaning it steers clear of trying to amend the state constitution at the ballot box. Whether such an amendment is required has been a topic of debate in Georgia. There is also a chance House lawmakers take action, which is what some state senators might be waiting for.
And then there is clearly demand for sports betting in the state as well.
Technology company GeoComply reported in January that there were more than 3.6 million geolocation checks in Georgia during the past NFL season. Those checks represent attempts by state residents to access legal sportsbooks elsewhere, which they are ultimately blocked from doing.
“This data underscores the substantial unmet demand for legal sports betting in these states,” GeoComply noted.
