Georgia sports teams push for betting legalisation

Georgia sports betting could go live soon as it already has the support of all four major sports teams in the state.

US.- As the segment grows in the country, sports leagues and teams want to take a bite of it. However, Georgia sports betting is getting a major push from the big teams in the state for another reason.

The Professional Sports Integrity Alliance, integrated by the Atlanta Falcons, Hawks, Braves & United is advocating for the segment.

According to the Falcons president and CEO Rich McCay, all dollars would go into the state, not the teams. However, he believes they’ll benefit anyway from fan engagement, which is as important as money.

“With the younger fans, we need more engagement,” McKay said. “What we’ve seen from all the numbers is how much sports betting there is going on from that age of 23 to 40. This becomes an engagement opportunity for us.”

Georgia sports betting legalisation remains unexplored. However, a first proposal may arrive in the Legislature as soon as next week.

Latest developments

A committee from Georgia would make recommendations to the chamber on a gambling expansion measure, but decided in December to put them on hold as it couldn’t reach a consensus.

State Senator Brandon Beach said that he was in favour of delaying the approval of the recommendations until panel members could reach an agreement, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The recommendation was to allow casinos, sports betting or horse racing in the state.

We just weren’t ready to vote,” Beach said. “So I decided to hold off. We’ve got time. We’re going to talk about it in the next (Senate Republican) caucus meeting we have — it’ll be a priority.”

State Senator Bill Cowsert, who had opposed gambling in the past and is now open to new revenue possibilities, explained that the panel failed to reach a consensus on how to present the question of expanded gambling to local voters.