It’s possible lawmakers could get some strong recommendations from a study committee to legalize sports betting and other forms of gambling.
Photo By – Imagn Images. Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) reacts after hitting a home run.
It’s sort of like summer school for supporters of regulating same-game parlays in the Peach State.
A group of Georgia House lawmakers will spend time over the next few months studying the pros and cons of whether the state should legalize and regulate certain forms of gambling, including in-person and online sports betting.
- Georgia lawmakers have formed a House Study Committee to evaluate the pros and cons of legalizing and regulating gambling in the state, including in-person and online sports betting, horse racing, and casino gaming.
- The committee will hold public hearings and produce a report with potential legislation by Dec. 1, aiming to address gambling that’s already occurring in the state without regulation.
- Legalization faces strong opposition from socially conservative groups and lawmakers, and any final decision would likely require a statewide ballot measure, potentially pushing action to 2026 and beyond.
The House Study Committee on Gaming in the State of Georgia, created by the passage of a state House of Representatives resolution earlier this year, held its first meeting on Monday at the Oconee County Administrative Building in Watkinsville.
“Obviously, gaming of various types has been a topic of late, and for quite some time,” said Republican Rep. Marcus Wiedower, the chair of the committee. “Some people up here, maybe with a little more age than me, have looked into this for quite some years. Of late, I have picked up my opinion of online sports betting, which we’ll get into throughout this committee as well. But really, this committee is put together just to kind of look at all of it … the pros and cons, the impacts it may have for the state of Georgia.”
Wiedower’s “opinion” of online sports betting in Georgia is that it is already happening in the state and should therefore be subject to local regulation. The Watkinsville Republican was the chief sponsor of pro-sports betting legislation that failed to pass earlier this year in the Georgia legislature, as similar measures have for several years now.
The seven-person study committee could help to convince some lawmakers that the time is nigh for Georgia to legalize and regulate certain forms of gambling in addition to the state lottery.
Under the terms of the resolution creating the committee, its members will study “the conditions, needs, issues, and problems” tied to potential legalization of brick-and-mortar casino gambling, betting on horse racing, and sports betting. Online casino gambling, or iGaming, is not mentioned in the resolution’s language.
So four months into 2025, here’s where we stand with states that have yet to legalize sports betting:
Alaska – still possible but not much going on
Alabama – no
California – chill
Georgia – not happening
Hawaii – dead
Idaho – not even trying
Minnesota – maybe? I don’t even know…— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) April 26, 2025
The resolution does say the committee is required to hold at least four public hearings at various locations in the state, as well as at least one meeting to discuss and finalize the committee’s findings. The committee is also supposed to adopt “specific findings or recommendations that include proposed legislation,” which will then be filed as a report by the chair before the committee is abolished on Dec. 1.
Do you hear the people sing (for SGPs)?
It’s possible lawmakers could get some strong recommendations from the committee for legalizing Georgia sports betting.
“I have always maintained that in my efforts it is not to expand or encourage but to regulate and put guardrails on things that are already happening in this state prevalently,” Wiedower said on Monday.
Still, the two-hour meeting suggested there will be plenty of opposition and disagreement to come on any proposal to expand legalized gambling in Georgia. The consensus in the state now appears to favor a ballot measure asking voters to decide whether that legalization should happen as well, which would mean waiting until 2026 for a vote.
“Legislators don’t legalize gambling,” Rep. Alan Powell said on Monday. “The people of Georgia legalize gambling.”
A tough row to hoe
Monday’s discussion was supposed to be focused mostly on brick-and-mortar casino gambling, but Wiedower said committee members will dig into parimutuel wagering on horse racing and sports betting more broadly at subsequent hearings. The next meeting will probably be at the end of August, Wiedower said.
Again, though, any form of gambling the committee recommends for legalization, if it recommends any at all, will likely be met with opposition from more socially conservative lawmakers and stakeholders.
“We don’t want to let the end justify the means,” said Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, during Monday’s meeting. “Just because we’re going to get revenue doesn’t mean … that it’s going to actually help, generally, our society.