Legislation that could authorize online sports betting in the Peach State using legal cover provided by the lottery is making progress in the Georgia legislature.
Georgia’s Senate Committee on Economic Development and Tourism amended and passed Senate Bill 386 on Tuesday, giving its blessing to a bipartisan measure that would legalize online sports betting in the state without the constitutional amendment some argue is required.
S.B. 386 would do so by declaring that the General Assembly finds the state constitution already allows lawmakers to pass bills affecting the Georgia Lottery Corp., including by adding online sports betting to its repertoire.
The lottery would oversee all aspects of online sports betting in Georgia and act as the licensing body and regulator for the industry in the southern state. S.B. 386 would allow as many as 16 online sports betting licenses to be awarded to professional sports organizations, online sportsbook operators, and the lottery itself.
Georgia’s Senate Committee on Economic Development and Tourism just passed SB 386 by an 8-2 vote.
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) January 30, 2024
The bill (sponsored by senators from both parties, including Republican Sen. Clint Dixon below) would legalize online sports betting in the state via the lottery. pic.twitter.com/757thM6Irt
There is still a long way to go before sports betting is legal in Georgia in any form. S.B. 386 will now go to the Senate's rules committee for further direction. Georgia's 2024 legislative session is expected to run until late March.
Nevertheless, several friendly tweaks were made to S.B. 386 on Tuesday by the Senate’s economic development committee. One increased the proposed tax rate for online sports betting revenue to 20% from 15%. The money raised would go to fund education in the state, such as pre-kindergarten programs and post-secondary HOPE scholarships.
Republican Sen. Clint Dixon, one of S.B. 386’s sponsors, added that the amendments included provisions intended to encourage the participation of minority-owned companies and a ban on any attempt to offer wagering on the Special Olympics. S.B. 386 would set the minimum legal age for sports wagering at 21, but bettors could not use credit cards to fund their accounts.
S.B. 386 was passed by the Senate committee by an 8-2 vote in its favor. There was, however, some public pushback to the bill during hearing from religious groups, whose words carry weight in a more socially conservative state like Georgia.
“The disastrous effects on problem gambling are well known and well documented,” said Mack Parnell, executive director of the Georgia Faith and Freedom Coalition, during Tuesday’s meeting. “I don't have to belabor the point, but we are opposed to this bill.”
Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, told the committee that the 2020 census found 1.5 million members of the Southern Baptist Convention in the state, making them a significant voting bloc.
“This is state-sponsored predatory gambling,” Griffin said.
Griffin also claimed there is a “legal issue” looming, and cited past correspondence he said he received from the attorney general’s office arguing against the legality of daily fantasy sports contests in the state. Griffin said there is an “integrity” issue as well.
“There's no way … that the people in the state of Georgia believed that they were legalizing sports betting when they voted for the lottery in 1993,” he said.
Watch your language
There are concerns about the bill beyond morality. Stuart Wilkinson, appearing on behalf of Atlanta-based daily fantasy sports operator PrizePicks, said they are looking forward to working with lawmakers to “perfect” some of the language in the bill.
“I think specifically we're looking at that fantasy definition,” Wilkinson said. “We're hoping to tighten that legislation with that language.”
S.B. 386 currently defines a fantasy contest as “a game or event in which one or more players compete based on winning outcomes that reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the players and are determined predominately by accumulated statistical results of the performance of individuals, including, but not limited to, athletes in sporting events.”
PrizePicks operates in its home state of Georgia, offering daily fantasy pick'em contests against the house that other states are taking action against.
Wilkinson said that if a regulatory framework is put in place for daily fantasy sports (perhaps one that authorizes pick’em contests against the house) it could increase Georgia’s haul from taxes and licensing fees by roughly $35 million.
