Georgia doubles down on sports betting legalization efforts with new House bill

Legislators in Georgia have renewed efforts to bring sports betting to the Peach State with the introduction of a new bill authorizing the vertical in the state’s House of Representatives.

Tabled by Representative Marcus Wiedower, HB 370 is supported by local business advocacy organization, the Metro Atlanta Chamber.

The bill authorizes both retail (type two) and online (type one) sports betting licenses in Georgia, with retail operators limited to fixed-odds, money line, over/under, parlay, and spread betting only. Online operators would not be limited with respect to markets they could potentially offer.

Operators (both retail and online), platform operators, service providers, distributors, and suppliers will be assessed on their eligibility to offer sports betting in the state subject to certain criteria.

This includes experience, expertise, integrity, the usage of advertising and marketing plans maximising revenue for the state, and a demonstrated commitment to promoting responsible gambling.

Also included among the criteria is the capacity to “rapidly and efficiently” bring bettors onto their respective sports betting platform.

Operators seeking type one licenses are required to pay a non-refundable application fee of $100,000 and an annual licensing fee of $1m. That operator can then designate an online entity to run its respective sports betting subject to a maximum of one online operator per business.

Type two licenses are primarily aimed at retail sportsbook operators and their respective partners.

Type two distributors, service providers, and platform licensees are required to pay application fees of $10,000 and licensing fees of $100,000, respectively, with retail licensees paying lower fees of $500 per application and $500 in licensing.

Suppliers interested in offering their services in Georgia would be required to pay an application fee of $2,000, with annual licensing fees of $20,000 payable.

The bill places limitations on the number of type 1 licenses available, stipulating that no more than 16 of these be awarded, with further restrictions on the number of licenses available to those meeting certain parts of the eligibility criteria.

In respect of type two licenses, a minimum of five and no more than seven licenses are available. Each type of license is valid for a period of no more than five years.

Online and retail sports betting operators would be required to pay a tax of 15% of their adjusted gross income in the form of a privilege tax, with negative taxable income able to be carried over to subsequent months for taxation purposes.

All proceeds will be used to fund educational causes in the state.

The bill is broadly similar to SB 57 A.KA. – the Georgia Sports Betting Integrity Act – first read in the Georgia Senate last month, which is scheduled to be discussed by the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee later today.

The bill would authorize the Georgia Lottery Corporation (GLC) to create a public entity to regulate sports betting, with that body to be governed by the Georgia Sports Betting Commission, which would be empowered with all the powers of a licensing regulator.

The commission will be made up of seven members, all to be appointed by the GLC at a later date.

SB 57 A.KA. allows for the licensing of up to 18 online sportsbooks under so-called type one licenses, however, nine of these are set aside for named sports franchises operating in the state.

These include the Atlanta Falcons, Braves, Dream, Atlanta FC, and the Atlanta Hawks, as well as the PGA Tour, Augusta National, Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Michelin Raceway.

These bills mark the second attempt to legalize sports betting in the state, following a similar failed effort in 2022.