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At this point, if you’re a sports fan in Georgia — you’re just used to fumbling, aren’t you?
The state, and more specifically, the city of Atlanta, has seen its share of heartbreak over the years. None more painful than blowing a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl, but the misery has also extended to basketball and collegiate football. Now, it’s funneling into Georgia’s sports betting market — or lack thereof.
Despite being so rich in sports, the state is one of 11 without any legal sports betting market. There was hope things would change in 2025 with the brand-new legislation. Welp, that was not to be. Keep on reading and we’ll get you up to speed with Georgia’s latest fumble — one that’ll keep sports betting off their radar until at least 2026.
House Kills Hopes Of Sports Betting
House Rep. Marcus Wiedower introduced his version of a sports betting package this year, dubbed House Resolution 450. His bill was complete with both a constitutional amendment and the detailed framework to bring legal wagering to Georgia. We’ll circle back to why the constitutional amendment inclusion is important but let’s focus on the House bill first.
That bill made early progress. It passed a committee inside the House, which opened the door for an at-large vote. But… it never even got to that point. The House adjourned for good in early March, effectively killing the bill right then and there. The adjournment marked the deadline for bills to advance past their chamber of origin and to the Senate.
The immediate question is, why? Why did the House not even give the bill the time of day to vote? Welp, that’s because there’s a divide among lawmakers. One camp believes sports betting requires a constitutional amendment, and another camp that thinks it can be legalized under the Georgia Lottery framework. That disagreement has led to multiple, often competing, bills.
“Let the voters decide,” Wiedower had previously said when presenting his bill. “Let the voters decide. If they don’t want it, they don’t want it.”
Obviously, many lawmakers in Georgia disagreed with that sentiment, hence the inaction. But if there is one glimmer of hope — and this is a stretch — there might not really be a delay here. If voters were to decide on the issue, it wouldn’t be until the 2026 midterms anyway. So there’s always the 2026 legislative session in that case.
Five Straight Years of “Almost”
If this whole story sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Georgia lawmakers have introduced sports betting bills every year since 2020. Every year, some version gains traction. And every year, it collapses before the finish line.
However, what matters here is that the state went backward in 2025. The matter, in any form, never passed the House nor the Senate. This was not the case in 2024 when Georgia came as close as ever to passing sports betting.
If you recall, the Senate passed both a constitutional amendment (SR 579) and an enabling bill (SB 386) that would’ve set up a regulated market and sent the issue to voters. The proposals had bipartisan backing and strong support from major sports teams, but the momentum hit a wall in the House, where leadership never brought the bills to a vote — see, told you it was a familiar story.
So yes, we fully expect 2026 to continue the streak alive — at least for the discussion of a bill. But will things change on the approval side? It’s not looking promising based on this division among lawmakers.
Georgia Is Missing Out Big Time
Georgia’s continued failure to legalize sports betting isn’t just a political headache — it’s a missed financial opportunity. A massive one, actually. Estimates suggest hundreds of millions in annual tax revenue are being left on the table.
Most proposed bills would funnel that money into education, which makes the lack of urgency even more puzzling.
Meanwhile, Georgians are already placing bets — just not in a way that benefits the state. Many locals are using popular offshore sportsbooks to wager. These platforms are great, but of course, keep the money to themselves, with no tax kickbacks for Georgia. If you’re reading this and interested in doing the same, we recommend the following five offshore betting sites:
Meanwhile, other state residents are crossing into Tennessee, Florida, or now North Carolina, where mobile betting is fully legal. Again, the tax dollars are being missed entirely.
Georgia has the demand. It has the sports culture. It even has growing public support. What it doesn’t have is legislative follow-through. None of it. At this point, lawmakers need to decide if they’re serious about letting voters have a say. If a constitutional amendment is the only way forward, the next legislative session is critical. Waiting any longer means the earliest Georgians could vote on it would be 2028 — the same time voters are electing a brand-new U.S. President. Until then, the state will continue to watch tax dollars, consumer protections, and momentum flow elsewhere.
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