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This time of the year is huge for Georgia sports fans. The state’s two pride and joys — the Atlanta Falcons and Georgia Bulldogs — are in-season. The Bulldogs, per usual, are title contenders in college football betting. The Falcons, meanwhile, are ushering in the Michael Penix Jr. era.
Naturally, this excitement spills over into betting interest. The problem? Georgia sports betting remains nonexistent. Well, at least the kind you’re thinking of with top betting apps and physical sportsbooks.
But… there is betting going on in Georgia, through other means. And if data is correct, it’s likely exploding in popularity across the Peach State. Keep reading and we’ll explain what’s going on (and how you can bet on Dawgs and Falcons football).
Volume Is Off The Charts With Prediction Markets
Kalshi is the leading prediction market in the United States. So they are the best source to gauge how the new industry is faring this early into the NFL and NCAA seasons. So far, so good. Like really good.
After Week 1 of the NFL wrapped, Kalshi came out and said they did over $300 million in “trading” volume. That includes $196 million on NFL Sunday alone — its third-biggest day ever and the busiest since last year’s Presidential election. Nearly every dollar of that action came from sports “contracts,” which Kalshi rolled out nationwide earlier this year.
Though, college football did its part, too. That Saturday, Kalshi said they took in $85 million in trading. The day’s marquee game, Michigan vs. Oklahoma, pulled in over $10 million by itself. That’s a solid number, but it pales in comparison to NFL games.
Thirteen NFL games combined for $161 million in trading volume. Ravens vs. Bills led the pack with $35.6 million, more than double any other matchup. Nine different games cleared $10 million, which shows just how widespread the activity was across the league slate. The games earlier in the week also pulled monster numbers. The season opener drew $20.1 million in volume, and Friday’s game (in Brazil) did $25.7 million.
How legit are these numbers? Well, we don’t know. Unlike regulated sportsbooks, Kalshi doesn’t have to report accurate numbers. They are a private company, and well, they can make up the numbers if they’d like — it would certainly help give them more press if they’re big, as we’re doing. But if we take them at face value, they’re impressive, albeit tiny compared to “normal” sportsbooks.
Prediction Markets Are Available In Georgia
If you read our last section closely, you might’ve noticed we used terms like “volume” or “trades” — and not “bets.” That’s because Kalshi is not a sportsbook in the traditional sense. It’s actually a “commodity.”
Not being regulated as gambling is the key to its current business model. For now, prediction markets are overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). That’s because the “bets” placed on Kalshi are technically event contracts — a type of commodity — not wagers in the legal sense. This classification makes them federally legal and accessible in all 50 states, even in places like Georgia where legal sports betting is banned. So while DraftKings and FanDuel are shut out of the Peach State, Kalshi slides right through on a technicality.
We won’t have any data on how much of Kalshi’s volume came from inside the state of Georgia. But we have to guess it’s a decent amount. Remember, Georgia is one of only 11 states without a legal betting market in the United States.
And this is a diehard sports state at that. As we mentioned earlier, locals take their football seriously — the same goes for Atlanta Braves baseball. Betting-inclined fans have been looking for an outlet to wager, and now they have one with prediction markets that are fully legal. There’s also another option that’s likely doing bigger numbers.
Offshore Sportsbooks Remain Big Players In Georgia
Before there were prediction markets, there were offshore sportsbooks. We shouldn’t say were because offshore sites are still thriving in states without legal betting market like Georgia.
In fact, the success of offshore betting is a big reason why certain lawmakers in Georgia have pushed to legalize sports betting. They know locals are using these sites to wager sports, even if it’s technically illegal to do so inside the state. Worse, money they could be taxing off these bets is instead going into the pockets of the unlicensed sportsbooks. So it’s a double-whammy: bettors are gambling anyway, and Georgia makes no money off it.
Despite this dichotomy, Georgia lawmakers who do favor legalization haven’t had success convincing their fellow lawmakers to change their tune. Every year, the state has some type of sports betting legalization bill floating around, and every year it meets the same fate: death. Whether it doesn’t get enough votes or it just stalls in a committee, the end result is the same.
Will anything change in the upcoming 2027 legislative session? We wouldn’t bet on it (pun fully intended). That’s why we recommend Georgia bettors just stick to prediction markets and offshore sites. For the latter, we think these sites are the “best of the best” so start by looking here:
Best Betting Sites 