Georgia is one of four states that has not legalized any form of gambling, whether that be retail or online casinos, sports betting, horse race wagering, or anything aside from the state lottery.
After years of pushback, state officials are on the road to reversing their course. A newly created study committee convened on Monday to discuss potential options for gambling expansion throughout the state with a heavy emphasis on casino gambling.
Committee members, which included Democrats and Republicans, reviewed several central pillars of legalization, including the economic impact, tax revenue, and regulation, per Atlanta News First.
Slow going
Sports betting was legalized federally in 2018, and casinos expanded outside of Nevada for the first time in the 1970s.
The vast majority of states oversee gambling markets of varying forms. Thirty-eight, plus Washington D.C., have legal sports betting; seven allow for online casinos; and 46 have at least one form of legal gambling, according to the American Gaming Association.
During a committee meeting, state Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) pointed out that lawmakers in the Peach State have discussed expanding gambling for a long time.
“We’ve been talking about this issue since my hair was black.”
Southern states have been slower to accept the American gambling boom spurred by the legalization of sports betting. South Carolina still doesn’t have any forms of legal gambling, Florida only allows sports betting through one Seminole Tribe-controlled system, and Alabama has not legalized sports betting.
When discussing the benefits of following the national trend of gambling acceptance, committee members estimated that Georgia retail casinos would generate about $500 million in annual revenue.
Ed Clark, president of EchoPark Speedway, urged committee members to green-light a casino at his raceway in Henry County, noting that it would create 2,500-3,000 temporary construction and permanent jobs.
“If we build a facility at the speedway, it’s going to make you proud.”
Clark also said that 70% of Henry County residents work in jobs outside of the county, and the facility would allow them to stay closer to home and stimulate the local economy.
A back-and-forth battle
While the financial benefits of legal gambling are alluring, Mike Griffin, a lobbyist for the Southern Baptist Convention, played the morality card.
“For every dollar in revenue, it could cost taxpayers $3 to $5 to fix. I do not believe that God will hold us as citizens guiltless if we have more of this happen in the state of Georgia.”
He told the committee that casinos lead to increases in gambling addictions, crime, bankruptcy, and mental health issues.
Mike Lewis, a marketing professor at Emory University in Atlanta, said there is an important geopolitical difference playing out.
“This essentially rural conservative legislature is holding back this trend that a lot of the more liberal progressive folks in the Atlanta business community really want.”
The Atlanta metropolitan area had a population of 6.4 million people in 2024. That's the eighth largest in the country and about 57% of Georgia’s 11.2 million population.
The committee is not required to provide a recommendation on the state’s future in gambling until December. Notably, its chairman, Rep. Marcus Wiedower (R-Watkinsville), co-sponsored a bill introduced in February that would legalize sports betting. That bill is still sitting in the House.
Georgia has seen several previous efforts to legalize sports betting, albeit to no avail. Legal Sports Report noted that a University of Georgia survey found that 63% of voters would support legalization, while GeoComply found a 101% year-over-year increase in consumers who attempted to access sportsbooks from Georgia during the 2024 NFL season.