The Georgia higher education committee listened to testimony from six witnesses Tuesday (4 March) about sports betting as the issue begins its last-minute march through the chamber.
There was no vote Tuesday, and Thursday is the crossover deadline. Committee chair Chuck Martin said that while Wednesday is a legislative workday, the committee will meet again in the afternoon. Sports betting could land on that agenda, and if not, it would move to the Thursday agenda. The committee — like others in Atlanta — is working extra hours ahead of the crossover deadline.
Should the committee advance the proposal, which would allow for statewide mobile sports betting, the full house would have to approve it to keep it alive. However, a senate committee has already rejected a legalisation measure.
HB 686 is part of a package of bills and is the enabling legislation for a constitutional amendment, which would land on Georgia’s November 2026 ballot if passed. Representative Marcus Wiedower’s bill would allow for 16 digital platforms, some tied to professional sports teams. It would also set the tax rate at 20% of adjusted gross gaming revenue, and the legal betting age at 21.
That’s not right
After Wiedower spent about 30 minutes introducing HB 686, the committee heard from six witnesses.
Among them was John Kindt, professor emeritus of business administration, who told the committee that geofencing “doesn’t work”. He also repeatedly said that Illinois was the first US state to launch legal sports betting.
Kindt said he moved to Georgia to be near his grandchildern. He also said he was testifying on behalf of children across the state.
Geofencing is a tool used to track where bettors are located. Operators use it to ensure that bettors are within a legal betting jurisdiction. It is used to “fence” in whole states and in some cases, like in Washington, DC, individual neighborhoods or even buildings.
While there are ways to circumvent geofencing, it is used by banks, hospitals and ride-share services. All of those industries rely on it being precise to get their jobs done. Heat maps provided by GeoComply during state gambling launches often show red pins that indicate those outside of the fence. In January, the company released a map of an Iowa cornfield full of bettors. Nebraskans routinely cross the border to place bets.
First digital bet in US placed in NJ in 2018
After the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was struck down in 2018, the first state to go live with legal digital sports betting was New Jersey in August 2018. Pennsylvania was next in May 2019. At that time, Illinois lawmakers hadn’t legalised. That happened 28 June 2019. Go-live in Illinois was 9 March 2020 for in-person betting, and 21 June 2020 for digital platforms.
In addition, Kindt went on to state that since wagering went live in Illinois, 383,000 addicted gamblers have been identified and 761,000 gamblers exhibit signs of problem gambling. Those numbers fall in line with estimates that 2%-3% of the US population suffer from some level of gambling addiction.
The Georgia bill earmarks 15% of the first $150 million in tax revenue for problem and responsible gambling initiatives.
Kindt, who has also testified before congress in opposition of gambling expansion, pointed to bills in Maryland and Vermont that seek to repeal legal wagering. However, he failed to mention that the Maryland bill is moot — it dropped after the 3 February filing deadline. And the Vermont bill, filed 4 February, has not been scheduled for a committee meeting.
Supporter: Tax revenue could affect change
Of the six witnesses, four testified in opposition to legal wagering. Those testifying in favor were representatives for the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.
BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics Sportsbook and FanDuel are members of the SBA.
Nick Fernandez of the chamber said his group supports the Georgia legislation. He also said the potential tax revenue from legal sports betting has “generational opportunities” to change Georgia’s pre-K programme and higher education initiatives.
