Another effort to legalize sports betting has come up short in the Georgia General Assembly.
Members of the Georgia House of Representatives did not pass two online sports betting-related measures on Thursday in Atlanta, House Resolution 450 and House Bill 686.
Thursday was the deadline for those two measures to pass the House and cross over to the Senate, which means this year’s effort to bring legal sports betting to Georgia is dead barring some kind of legislative miracle. The Georgia General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn this legislative session on April 4.
Crossover Day has come and gone in Atlanta. Two sports betting-related measures failed to pass the House and jump to the Senate, which means another effort to legalize sports betting in Georgia has come up short. https://t.co/fpOt3WK4P8
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) March 7, 2025
This year’s failure follows those of previous years, such as in 2024 and 2023. As a result, sports betting remains illegal in Georgia, the eighth-most populous state in the U.S. and a potentially significant market opportunity for sportsbook operators — albeit one that remains out of reach.
Hopes for legalized sports betting in Georgia this session ultimately rested on the shoulders of the House of Representatives after an attempt in the Senate was rejected last week by a committee. That was due in part to the concern some senators had that the House would not act, which is ultimately what happened.
However, just because Georgia hasn’t legalized sports betting it doesn’t mean that there is no sports betting in Georgia. Residents of the state, like many others, can access illegal and offshore sports betting and casino gaming sites.
“This measure, as I see it, is to rein in or to put guardrails on something that is happening right now,” said Republican Rep. Marcus Wiedower, the chief sponsor of the now-dead sports betting legislation, during a committee meeting earlier this week. “Each one of us can pick up our phone, place bets with zero to no regulations whatsoever.”
There is also demand for a regulated offering in Georgia.
Tech firm GeoComply reported in January that there were more than 3.6 million geolocation checks in Georgia during the past NFL season, which represent efforts by state residents to access legal and regulated sportsbooks elsewhere. Georgians will no doubt continue to cross state lines to Florida and Tennessee to wager there as well.
Yet a legal sports betting option in Georgia will have to wait for another legislative session. The two dead pieces of legislation that represented the last best hope for legalization this session clearly didn’t do the trick.
House Resolution 450 would have put a question on the 2026 election ballot asking voters if the state constitution should be amended to authorize sports betting. The resolution would have also earmarked the bulk of the tax revenue raised by sports betting for pre-kindergarten programs and HOPE scholarships.
Two-thirds of lawmakers must approve a proposed constitutional amendment, more than just a straight majority that’s typically needed for bills in the Georgia General Assembly. Only a majority of voters is needed to approve a constitutional amendment at the ballot box.
What could have been
House Bill 686, meanwhile, would have been the enabling legislation for H.R. 450. If the proposed constitutional amendment was ratified by voters, the proposed "Georgia Sports Betting Act" would then have taken effect on January 1, 2027.
H.B. 686 would have put the Georgia Lottery Corporation in charge of regulating legal sports betting in the state, which would have been conducted entirely online via apps and websites. The lottery would have been able to offer online sports betting in Georgia as well.
Up to 16 online sports betting licenses could have been awarded by the lottery. Five were reserved for Georgia's professional sports teams, one for the PGA Tour, one for Augusta National Golf Club (home of the Masters), one for the Atlanta Motor Speedway's owner, and one for the lottery itself. Those entities could have partnered with a sportsbook operator to take bets on their behalf.
The other seven online sports betting licenses would not have been tied to any team or league or facility. The lottery would have awarded those permits using a public procurement process.
Online sports betting licensees would have had to pay a $100,000 application fee, a $1-million annual licensing fee, and hand over 24% of their revenue to the state.
Bettors would have had to be 21 or older. No college prop wagering or free bets would have been permitted either.
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
Despite the many details in the bill, it was just one of many pieces of legislation that Georgia lawmakers had to grapple with on Thursday.
Moreover, H.B. 686 was only put on the House’s calendar after a full day of legislating already, at around 7 p.m. ET.
H.R. 450 didn’t join its enabling legislation on the calendar at first either, requiring another meeting of the chamber’s Rules Committee before both measures were teed up for a potential vote.
And, in the end, time ran out.
