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Georgia Sports Betting Apps

Georgia online sports betting remains prohibited, but it’s not for lack of effort: lawmakers have considered sports betting bills every legislative session for several years in a row.

Recent developments indicate a growing number of lawmakers are interested in legalizing sports betting, as numerous representatives, senators, and other high-ranking officials have signaled support for legalization.

Georgia’s latest sports betting attempts involved multiple bills that originated in the Senate. However, the Georgia House once again declined to move forward with any of the proposals in 2024.

2024 Georgia Sports Betting Legislation

The most promising Georgia online sports betting bill in 2024, , advanced further than most measures have in the past.

The bill sought to legalize online sports betting and issue up to 16 licenses to professional sports teams, PGA golf courses, NASCAR race tracks, standalone sportsbook operators, and the Georgia Lottery.

SB 386 would also have established a minimum age of 21 to bet on sports in Georgia and assessed a 20% tax on operators.

Initially, SB 386 sought to authorize online sports betting in Georgia without a Constitutional referendum. However, Sen. Bill Cowsert added an amendment that would require the bill to go before the voters in a statewide referendum.

SB 386 passed a full Senate vote and received from Lieutenant Governor Jones, but it died a short time later in the House.

Sen. Cowsert also introduced in 2024 to put sports betting before voters on the November ballot as accompanying legislation to SB 386. That bill also passed a full Senate vote and died in the House.

Lawmakers also introduced , a wide-ranging measure that would have legalized online sports betting and up to five brick-and-mortar casinos.

Like SB 386, SR 538 would have required voter approval during the November 2024 election.

Georgia lawmakers revived in 2024, a bill that first appeared in 2023.

SB 172 would have authorized the Georgia Lottery Corporation to offer online sports betting and issue no fewer than six licenses to qualified applicants. Additionally, the bill would have authorized self-serve wagering kiosks.

The Senate tabled SB 172 just four days after its 2024 introduction.

Georgia Daily Fantasy Sports Sites

Georgia gambling laws do not address the legality of daily fantasy sports, but all major DFS brands accept customers located in Georgia.

Lawmakers tried to legalize fantasy sports in Georgia via bills introduced in 2017 and 2024 that would have legalized DFS contests and established a regulatory framework. Although both efforts failed to become law, little has changed for players and operators. Today, Georgia sports fans suffer no lack of choice when it comes to daily fantasy apps.

No additional efforts to legalize DFS in Georgia have been mounted since, with sports betting now drawing the majority of attention from lawmakers.

Read more about the current state of the Georgia fantasy sports market and see BettingUSA’s recommended DFS sites here:

• Georgia Fantasy Sports

Georgia Horse Racing Betting

Horse racing betting is not legal in Georgia.

The state’s historically anti-gambling sentiment has made it difficult to legalize pari-mutuel horse racing betting in Georgia, but lawmakers have introduced multiple bills to legalize horse racing betting in recent years.

Although the latest Georgia horse racing betting efforts have come up short, it’s clear that attitudes are changing. Proponents estimate that legal horse racing betting in Georgia would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue and create significant economic opportunities for workers in related industries.

A by The Lewis Group estimated that legalizing pari-mutuel wagering and constructing three horse race tracks in Georgia would create thousands of permanent jobs and add nearly $900 million to the state’s GDP.

Although the report is a bit dated and likely overly optimistic in some of its assumptions, there’s no question that an established Georgia horse racing betting industry would be worth significant sums.

While legal horse racing betting has considerable support in Georgia, it also faces significant opposition. Numerous anti-gambling groups oppose any expansion of gambling over concerns it will lead to addiction, broken homes, and bankruptcy.

Opponents also contend that any new race tracks constructed in Georgia would face significant financial risks that could put them in the same position as many other race tracks across the United States: foreclosure unless they’re able to convince the legislature to allow them to generate supplemental income from casino-style games like slots and historical horse racing machines.

Additionally, it’s noteworthy that Georgia sports betting bills considered up until 2023 have included language authorized pari-mutuel horse racing wagering, while more recent sports betting bills have not.

Latest Georgia Horse Racing Betting Efforts

Georgia’s latest attempt consisted of a proposal in 2023 that would have authorized sports betting and fixed-odds betting on horse races.

Senator Billy Hickman, the primary sponsor of several horse racing betting bills, that would place the Georgia Lottery in charge of running horse racing to avoid a constitutional amendment. In Georgia, constitutional amendments require a 2/3^rd vote in the House and Senate to put a measure on the next ballot. Then, a majority of voters must approve the measure in a public referendum.

“By running this through the lottery, there’s not a constitutional amendment required,” Hickman said. “Sports betting is deemed a lottery game.”

Additionally, making Georgia Horse Racing betting fixed-odds instead of pari-mutuel would add a second layer of protection from any constitutional amendment requirements. As the Georgia Horse Racing Coalition contended, the Georgia Constitution prohibits casino games and pari-mutuel wagering but not fixed-odds betting.

Whether those arguments would have held up under legal challenges remains an open question. When presented for a full Senate vote, SB 57 lost on a vote of 19-37.

Earlier Georgia Horse Racing Betting Efforts

Lawmakers considered two proposals in 2022 that sought to legalize horse racing betting in Georgia, authorize up to five race tracks, and dedicate the resulting tax revenues to education and healthcare.

 called for an amendment to the Georgia Constitution to legalize pari-mutuel horse racing betting. In addition, the bill would grant local city councils or commissions the right to vote on whether to construct race tracks in their areas.

Meanwhile,  would establish the Georgia Horse Racing Commission to regulate horse racing betting if voters approved the amendment.

In 2019, State Senator Brandon Beach introduced a bill titled the “Rural Georgia Jobs and Growth Act” to authorize horse racing and parimutuel betting in Georgia.

called for an amendment to the GA Constitution and would have gone to a public referendum had it been passed into law.

The bill died in committee after failing to gain the support it needed.

Georgia Online Gambling

Online casinos and poker sites are not legal in Georgia, but Sweepstakes gambling sites offer casino-style games and nearly an identical experience.

The odds of online gambling in Georgia being legalized anytime soon are very low under the current political landscape. Georgia’s anti-gambling laws are among the strictest in the nation, prohibiting even horse racing betting and social poker games played at home.

In such an environment, legislation authorizing online casinos or poker has little chance of becoming law.

Online gambling is not specifically mentioned in Georgia’s criminal code, but the law mandates a clear-cut prohibition of gambling in any form.

GA Code § 16-12-20 defines gambling as

“An agreement that, dependent upon chance even though accompanied by some skill, one stands to win or lose something of value.”

The code also states that a person is considered to be gambling when they:

(1) Makes a bet upon the partial or final result of any game or contest or upon the performance of any participant in such game or contest;

(2) Makes a bet upon the result of any political nomination, appointment, or election or upon the degree of success of any nominee, appointee, or candidate; or

(3) Plays and bets for money or other thing of value at any game played with cards, dice, or balls.

Georgia even has its own version of the Federal Wire Act. 

§16-12-28 makes it an offense to communicate information related to betting, betting odds, or changes in betting odds. Violators found guilty of “communicating gambling information” are subject to imprisonment of 1-5 years and/or a fine of up to $5,000.

State law also voids all gambling contracts to further dissuade participation in unlawful gambling. Furthermore, money lost by illegal gambling and paid may be recovered from the winner by the loser via legal action.

On gambling contracts, GA Code § 13-8-3 states:

(a) Gambling contracts are void; and all evidences of debt, except negotiable instruments in the hands of holders in due course or encumbrances or liens on property, executed upon a gambling consideration, are void in the hands of any person.

(b) Money paid or property delivered upon a gambling consideration may be recovered from the winner by the loser by institution of an action for the same within six months after the loss and, after the expiration of that time, by institution of an action by any person, at any time within four years, for the joint use of himself and the educational fund of the county.

Georgia Online Lottery

Georgia was one of the first states to take its lottery online after a 2011 Department of Justice ruling declared that the Wire Act does not apply to online lotteries.

Residents of Georgia who are Lottery Players Club members may purchase tickets and play a variety of instant win games online or through the Georgia Online Lottery mobile app.

Georgia Sports Betting FAQ