Georgia Sports Betting Remains on Hold

Georgia is still a state where sports betting online is not permitted. It has been surprising that the required legislation to permit sports bettors in the Peach State to wager on their preferred sports has not yet been passed. However, there is a growing chance that this will change in 2025, allowing fans to wager on major leagues such as the National Football League. One could argue that Georgia hasn’t failed to adopt the laws necessary to legalize sports betting for lack of effort. After all, the state’s legislators have drafted a number of laws, going all the way back to 2021 that establish the legal foundation for Georgia to allow online sports betting. Two measures were drafted in 2024 alone, but they were once again rejected by the House of Representatives.

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The main issue of contention is ultimately how the money made from internet gambling would be used. There is already general consensus on a suggested tax rate of 25% and a legal gambling age of 21, but there is considerable dispute over the best ways to distribute the revenue. Republican representative for the Georgia House, Kasey Carpenter, has vehemently argued that the state’s newfound revenue from online sports betting should go toward education. Given the current state of affairs, this is probably going to be the middle ground that most parties agree upon when the matter is brought up again in 2025. The good news for Georgian sports bettors is that it seems to be a question of when rather than whether a settlement can be reached.

The most recent Georgia sports betting fiasco was in March 2024, when senators quarreled about the distribution of tax money. “I just hate to see it all fall apart over how the money is going to be divided,” said Carpenter. “At the end of the day, I think it’s going to provide funds that aren’t being provided to education and in the long run will be better for all Georgians.”

When Georgia sports betting is finally legalized, it is likely that at least six licenses will be given out to online sports betting operators. That means Georgia sports bettors will likely see FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, ESPN BET, and Caesars opening their online sportsbooks in Georgia, possibly sometime in 2025.

Legal internet sports betting won’t be a topic Georgia can address until early in 2025. Even if a bill is approved by the GA legislature and signed into law by the governor, it will still take some time for online sports betting to get going. The state of Georgia will benefit from legalized online sports betting, even if it has been long delayed, and deciding how to divide up this additional source of revenue is not simple. But with education as the main focus, both parties appear prepared to reach a historic consensus.Check out the latest sports betting odds at Prime Sports.