GA Missing Out On Super Bowl Dollars Due To Sports Betting Ban

Source: Aaron M. Sprecher / Getty

The Super Bowl is known as the biggest day for online sports betting in the U.S., raking in millions of dollars. Unfortunately, the state of Georgia will not benefit from the extra cash, thanks to the state’s sports betting ban.

John Pappas, senior advisor at cybersecurity company GeoComply, saw the growing demand for sports betting in the Peach State. “Just this past NFL season we saw over 300,000 accounts alone in Georgia,” he tells Fox 5 Atlanta.

The company makes sure people can only place online bets where it’s legal. With that in mind, Pappas shared data showing a large number of Georgia natives crossing the border to Tennessee to place their bets.

Potential Revenue

Pappas says that Georgia is missing out on big money due to the sports betting ban.

“Estimates look at in a mature legal market in Georgia, the annual tax revenue for the state would be somewhere around $112-115 million annually,” Pappas said.

State Rep. Marcus Wiedower is planning to introduce a bill seeking to legalize online sports betting.

“I’ll be introducing a constitutional amendment that would specifically just allow for online sports betting only. No brick and mortars, no casinos, horse racing kiosks, just online sports betting only,” Rep. Wiedower said.

He says this amendment would have revenue go to the Georgia Lottery to fund state education and gambling addiction resources.

Lawmakers in Georgia have been pushing for the measure since 2019. when sports betting was legalized at the federal level. However, it has received heavy pushback from groups such as Moms Against Gambling and the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

“What we’re going to see is it will exponentially make things worse. It’s going to increase addiction, and we’ve already seen that addiction rates increase the potential of suicide rates,” said Mike Griffin, Public Affairs Representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

Griffin states that there’s no reason to legalize gambling, although he acknowledges the presence of illegal gambling in the state.

“The Lord only knows what all is happening in our state that’s illegal. That all doesn’t need to be made legal,” Griffin said.

What’s Next?

Rep. Wiedower will present the bill in the current legislative session. If passed, the constitutional amendment will go onto the November ballot. If passed by voters, the law would likely not go into effect until 2027.

Analysts: Georgia Missed Out On Millions In Super Bowl Dollars Thanks To Sports Betting Ban  was originally published on ronemajicatl2.staging.go.ione.nyc