How To Bet On Sports In Georgia
The latest attempt to legalize sports betting in Georgia from Rep. Ron Stephens could prove less is more when it comes to legalizing gambling.
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At least a dozen states with legal sports betting have tax rates of 15% or less. The subject of sports betting has been bandied about in Georgia since late 2019, when local pro teams, including the MLB. Start Betting Real Money on Sports in Georgia. Getting started only takes a few clicks and a few minutes. The top Georgia sports betting sites have streamlined the sign-up process to get you into the action faster than ever. Select an option from the top of the page from your computer, phone, or tablet to get started. Can I Bet On Sports At The Georgia Lottery? Unfortunately, you cannot bet on sports at the Georgia Lottery because sports betting is not legal here. The Lottery’s proceeds are used to fund various.
Stephens and five other co-sponsors filed HB 86, which would legalize sports betting through the Georgia Lottery.
Stephens attempted to legalize sports betting last year through HR 378, but it might have been a bit ambitious. The referendum asked for the creation of a gaming commission and approval for all gambling the commission could oversee.
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That attempt, and another Stephens called his “Hail Mary“ for GA sports betting late in the last session, both failed. One source involved in the process expressed confidence to LSR that the bill has a better chance than last year’s
Georgia sports betting bill details
HB 86 is a straight-forward sports betting bill that would legalize six online-only sportsbooks with remote registration.
The lottery could license fewer than six if there aren’t enough applicants, though that shouldn’t be an issue. Outside of Tennessee to Georgia’s north, Southern states have mostly been left out of the sports betting legalization wave.
That means legal online sportsbooks in Georgia could draw traffic from its other border states of Alabama, South Carolina and, most importantly, Florida.
The bill taxes sports betting revenue at 16%. Sportsbook operators would also pay $900,000 annually to retain its license after a $50,000 application fee.
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Problem gambling proposal but no funding
The bill addresses the need for problem gambling services in the state but might not go far enough.
Georgia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities would work with local and national problem gambling organizations. The department would “establish prevention initiatives to reduce the number of individuals with problem gambling or a gambling disorder.”
There’s one problem, though: there’s no funding for such a program in the bill. All tax revenue from lottery operations go toward education in Georgia and sports betting would be no exception:
All of the tax collected under this Code section shall be distributed by the corporation to the general fund of the state treasury for deposit into the Lottery for Education Account established pursuant to Code Section 50-27-13.
Leagues get a piece of GA sports betting too
The major US sports leagues have had their lobbyists busy in all states to get a piece of the sports betting pie. Based on this bill ,it looks like Georgia is no different.
HB 86 would require sportsbooks to use official league data to settle in-play bets. There’s also another interesting nugget for the leagues:
Any sports governing body on whose sporting event the corporation has authorized wagering may also enter into commercial agreements with sports wagering operators or other entities that provide for such sports governing body to share in the amount bet from sports wagering on sporting events of such sports governing body. A sports governing body shall not be required to obtain a license or any other approval from the corporation to enter into such commercial agreements.
Why sportsbooks would willingly choose to give the leagues an integrity feeisn’t clear. In any case, it’s optional.
It’s worth noting all four of Georgia’s professional sports teams called for legal sports betting last year after creating the Georgia Professional Sports Integrity Alliance.
ATLANTA – Legislation to legalize online sports betting in Georgia gained momentum in the state Senate Thursday just as it appeared to get sidetracked in the Georgia House of Representatives.
A Senate committee passed a constitutional amendment that would put sports betting on the statewide ballot next year for Georgia voters to decide.
Senators decided to pursue the referendum route after the House postponed a floor vote on a bill aimed at legalizing sports betting without changing the state Constitution.
“It looks like it might not fare well in the House,” said Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee. “[A constitutional amendment] might be the way to go.”
Sports betting supporters, including an alliance of Atlanta’s four pro sports teams, have been pushing since last year for lawmakers to legalize betting on sports by statute, which would need only simple majority votes of the House and Senate.
Constitutional amendments require two-thirds majorities in each of the two legislative chambers, a higher hurdle that backers of legalizing casino gambling and pari-mutuel betting on horse racing have been unable to clear in the General Assembly in a decade of effort.
Cowsert said he has become convinced that passing a statute authorizing the Georgia Lottery Corp. to oversee sports betting without amending the Constitution wouldn’t overcome a court challenge.
“It’s a real stretch to call sports betting a lottery game,” he said. “We’re on pretty thin ice to convince a court.”
Cowsert said going the constitutional amendment route also would let lawmakers dedicate the proceeds from sports betting to purposes other than Georgia’s HOPE Scholarships and pre-kindergarten programs, which the lottery helps fund.
The constitutional amendment the committee approved Thursday would dedicate the proceeds instead to needs-based college scholarships, rural health care and deployment of broadband in unserved areas.
“I think this will probably generate much broader support for this initiative,” Cowsert said
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Sen. Ed Harbison, D-Columbus, said HOPE originally was a needs-based scholarship program when voters approved the lottery in the early 1990s. After lottery sales took off, lawmakers removed an income cap that had been placed on scholarship awards, and HOPE become a merit-based program.
Besides the constitutional change, the committee also approved a 42-page “enabling” bill with details on how sports betting would be conducted in Georgia.
Under the bill, sportsbooks would pay a 16% tax on their income to the state.
The lottery board would license at least six companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings to operate online sportsbooks in Georgia. The companies would pay an application fee of $10,000 and annual operating fees of $100,000.
While wagering on college sports would be allowed, bettors could not wagers on Georgia’s sports teams.
Bettors would have to be located physically inside the state, a provision that would be enforced by geofencing technology.
As was the case during previous legislative hearings on legalizing gambling, the sports betting proposal drew opposition from representatives of faith-based groups.
Mike Griffin, representing the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said online sports betting, which can be accessed through the convenience of a cellphone, is particularly prone to attracting problem gamblers.
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“The majority of people who gamble are responsible” he said. “It’s the irresponsible people who contribute the most money.”
Cowsert said the legislation includes provisions to discourage addictive gambling. It would limit bettors to spending no more than $2,500 a month and prohibit sportsbooks from extending credit to bettors, he said.
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Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, argued sports betting is already taking place illegally in Georgia, but the state isn’t benefitting because it can’t be taxed.
“This puts structure in it … [and] revenue that goes to important uses,” he said. “The money goes to a good cause. Right now, it goes to the bookie.”
The constitutional amendment and enabling bill now head to the Senate Rules Committee to schedule votes on the Senate floor.