It looks as if Georgia is making progress towards legalizing sports betting.
Georgia’s Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee is set to consider legislation that would legalise mobile sports wagering in the state of Georgia.
The bill, SB 403, was introduced in the Georgia Senate last week and has support from Senators Burt Jones, Jeff Mullis, Ed Harbison, David Lucas and Brandon Brach.
What’s covered in the bill?
If the legislation is successful, it would only legalise mobile sports wagering across the state. The bill also sets out plans to create the Georgia Mobile Sports Wagering Integrity Commission, a new body within the Georgia Lottery Corporation which would be responsible for regulating the state’s sports betting market. Land-based sports wagering is not covered under the proposed law.
The state regulator would be responsible for processing licence applications. Operators hoping to enter the market must first pay a non-refundable $50,000 application fee and will be required to make annual renewal payments of $900,000.
Licensed operators would be subject to a 10% tax rate of adjusted gross income from sports wagering in the state of Georgia and will be paid on a monthly basis. License-holders are also required to use official league data when offering live sports betting.
The legislation states that residents must be at least 21 years old before they can wager on sports and that they must be physically located within state lines to place a bet.
Efforts to legalise betting in Georgia
This news comes after a Georgia Senate committee studying gambling, heard presentations and testimony from industry stakeholders about sports betting in the state in October 2019.
The committee was established in April 2019 and was charged with studying the opportunities to expand the state’s legal and regulated gambling market.
