Georgia Sports Betting Legislation Amended as Session Nears its Close

• A Georgia sports betting package has been further amended and still awaits a committee vote
• The Georgia Committee on Higher Education may vote on the sports betting legislation this Wednesday
• One legislative day remaining in session for sports betting to be approved

Georgia’s sports betting chances are all going to come down to the final two days of the legislative session.

The much-discussed Georgia sports betting package had another hearing yesterday in the Georgia Committee on Higher Education, in which several amendments to the package were presented to its members.

The committee will meet again tomorrow to potentially vote on the legislation and send to the House for the final day of legislative action on Thursday.

Tax Rate Increased, Promo Deductions Banned

Rep. Marcus Wiedower (R-121) walked committee members through the amendments of the sports betting package on behalf of Sen. Clint Dixon (R-45), who authored the Senate-approved SB 386 bill.

As expected, the sports betting tax rate was increased from 20% to 25%. Legislators also strengthened language in the bill to ensure operators could not deduct free bets or promotional credits from their taxable revenues. Despite interest a few weeks ago, the bill authors did not include language to legalize daily fantasy sports in the final document.

One final alteration will see how sports betting tax revenues are distributed throughout the state. Originally, Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-16) laid out how revenues would be disbursed if sports betting was approved. He filed his resolution with the following disbursements:

• 80% into the Educational Opportunity Fund. The fund will support pre-kindergarten programs in the state. Once fully funded, the remaining revenues will go to the HOPE scholarships
• 15% to a responsible gaming fund
• 5% to a Sports Promotion Fund to attract major sporting events to the state

The amended bill now requires that sports betting tax revenues be used to fund HOPE scholarships, pre-kindergarten programs, teacher training, and capital improvements. The legislature will have the final say during budget season on how the revenues are distributed to these four categories.

Wiedower made one final pitch for bill, noting that sports betting is happening in Georgia right now with no benefit for the state or protections for customers.

“This puts guardrails on something that Georgians are doing right now. I believe that in my heart, or I truly wouldn’t be supporting this,” he said.

Coming Down to the Wire

The committee took no action on the package Monday afternoon. It will meet again on Wednesday, March 27, at 1 p.m., and could potentially take a vote on the package.

If approved, it would move the sports betting legislation to the full House for the final day of legislative action on Thursday, March 28. If approved by the House, it would then have to be sent back to the Senate for concurrence, as the original bill has been amended.

If approved, the legislation will legalize online sports betting for a total of 16 online sports betting licenses, with the numbers breaking down as follows:

• Five for Georgia professional sports teams (Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Braves, Atlanta United FC, and Atlanta Dream)
• One for Augusta National Golf Course
• One for the PGA Tour
• One for Atlanta Motor Speedway
• One for the Georgia Lottery Corporation

The remaining seven licenses will be awarded by the gaming commission.