New Poll Shows People in Georgia Aren’t Excited for Sports Betting

Peter LewisPeter Lewis | November 23, 2022
New Poll Shows People in Georgia Aren't Excited for Sports Betting

As things stand, there’s no options for legal sports betting over in Georgia, but it has felt like some people have wanted that to change. Well, not everyone. That’s because there has been loads of opposition for it to come into play over the years, which has been rough to see. Now, even more negative talk has surrounded the legalization, as a new poll shows people in Georgia aren’t excited for sports betting to ever potentially be allowed.

Indeed, according to a report, a new poll in Georgia showed that only 46.5 percent of people would vote for sports betting to go through. That’s a disturbingly low number, and it of course has plenty of people worried. Right now, Georgia doesn’t have any promising plans in place to try and bring legalization for sports betting. However, former governor candidate Stacey Abrams opened up a lot of eyes with her potential push for it.

However, the fact that Brian Kemp was able to win also has people a bit nervous, as Kemp is nowhere even close to passionate the way Abrams was. As a whole, it seems like Georgians aren’t overly excited about bringing legal wagers to the state, which is disappointing. We’ve seen the high revenue opportunities out there for states. And with more than 30 U.S. states moving forward with betting, they’re seeing the benefits.

With this new poll, it’s going to have even more people questioning whether or not there’s a future for sports betting in the state. Most southern states appear to be against it, which doesn’t make a ton of sense. If anything, it’s only making people travel outside of Georgia to make wagers, which in turn hurts the local economy. Why should people invest money elsewhere, when they could do so at home? Georgians aren’t seeing the big picture.

Sports betting support has dropped in Georgia

What really hurts here too is that sports betting support has dropped in Georgia in recent years. Back in 2020, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran a similar poll asking citizens how they felt about sports betting. That year, a head-turning 57 percent of people said they’d be in favor of legal sports betting in Georgia. Now, though, this new poll shows a drop of more than 10 percent in people who would want to see it go down.

That’s rough and not what anyone wants to see. For the percentage of people who do want Georgia sports betting, right now would be the main time of the year to get their wagers in. As we’ve stated before, football is always going to be massive in the Peach State. The Atlanta Falcons would have fans checking out the NFL betting odds on a consistent basis. This team has been inconsistent this year, but they still have a lot of talent.

With Atlanta being a major U.S. city too, you know people are counting down the days for the Super Bowl betting to arrive. Super Bowl betting surely would be huge for Georgia. Right now, teams like the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys have strong odds. However, there’s always a team that feels like they’re going to be primed to record an upset or two along the way.

With the Georgia Bulldogs, their NCAAF betting odds are always going to be high. This team won the College Football Playoff last winter and they’re currently the No. 1 team in the country. Kirby Smart and Co. very well could end up repeating as the champs. This is something people would love to be able to potentially bet on. However, if they want to do that, they have to leave the state to do so.

What’s next for Georgia sports betting?

Time and time again, people ask themselves what’s next for Georgia sports betting? Well, your guess is as good as ours. The best case would be at some point in 2023, but no one is feeling overly excited about that possibility. Had Abrams won the battle to be governor, then things would be looking a whole lot better for those chances. Abrams was ready to try and get some bills into place for people to vote on.

However, she wasn’t able to win, as Kemp won with plenty of space to spare. Kemp had by far the higher amount of votes, which the sports betting supporters were hoping wouldn’t be the case. Abrams had people excited about her plans for sports betting, as she knew just how much revenue could come in for the state. That revenue could be used to help out needed resources in Georgia.

With Kemp being hesitant at best with sports betting, it feels like the window is shutting here a bit. No one knows what might end up happening with Georgia sports betting, but for now, there are no plans or bills in place to try and get things moving in the right direction. Unfortunately, people are going to have to remain patient here. We understand all the anger out there, though.

Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis Jr. comes from Mississippi where he and his family spend their days discussing college football and basketball. He's written sports journalism for years after studying journalism at a local university.