Georgia’s 2024 legislative session will mark another effort to legalize sports betting in the state, lawmakers say, and this year’s push comes after previous attempts have been unsuccessful despite the increasing interest and potential economic benefits associated with legal sports betting in the Peach State.
In the last legislative session, Republican Rep. Ron Stephens introduced House Bill 237, which proposed up to 16 online sportsbooks regulated by the Georgia Lottery, with a significant tax on sports betting revenue to fund education. As the state lottery would have regulated the sports betting market, it would not have required changing the state constitution to enact it. Still, HB237 was rejected.
Stephens and other proponents believe the issue will resurface with stronger support this year despite these setbacks. Advocates argue that the revenue could significantly benefit education and community programs.
“That’s where we’re going with sports betting: to allow these folks, specifically our pro teams, the Falcons, the Hawks [to offer sports betting]. They’re asking us to allow them to do this. This is just another lottery game. It would add money to HOPE and Pre-K,” Rep. Stephens told WTOC.
Proponents like Republican State Sen. Brandon Beach proposed that sports betting could bring substantial economic growth. At a committee meeting in December, Beach said, “I’m all for sports betting. From a job creation standpoint, if we would have three destination resort casinos and one pari-mutuel track or maybe two, we would create a lot of jobs.”
A major player in this renewed effort is Entain Foundation U.S., which is actively working with legislators to pass a gambling bill. One of Entain’s representatives, Bill Pascrell, emphasized the economic benefits of legalized gambling, including tax revenue and local community investment.
Pascrell said in October, “if you don’t regulate it, you can’t track it, you can’t monitor it, and unlike alcohol and drug use, it’s really not readily apparent whether somebody’s having a gambling addiction problem. The only way to penetrate and have an impact on problem gambling in a particular jurisdiction is to regulate it.”
However, there is significant opposition to legalizing sports betting, including from the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, which cites concerns over addiction and the potential social costs of legalizing sports betting.
Mike Griffin, the board’s lobbyist, argued against the economic benefits of gambling in an email to the Georgia Reporter, saying, “sports gambling is one of the most dangerous forms of gambling because of its easy accessibility and its ability to create addiction. While I know it is being said that many are already doing this kind of gambling anyway, we must understand that just because somebody is doing something illegal does not mean that it should be made legal.”
“Something as detrimental as sports gambling made legal will be like putting gasoline on a fire. It will make something that is already bad, just worse,” Griffin added.
