Georgia Sports Betting
Georgia sports betting is not legal. Multiple sports betting bills failed during 2024’s legislative session, so Georgians will have to wait until at least 2025 to pass any new laws.
Despite Georgia’s difficulties during the legalization process, many lawmakers want to make legal online sports betting a reality in the state. There is also considerable interest in legal sports betting from Georgia residents.
Read on for the latest news about what’s next for Georgia sports betting.
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Is sports betting legal in Georgia?
No. Georgia sports betting is not legal despite multiple efforts in the Georgia Assembly. Given that sports betting bills passed through the Georgia Legislature in 2021 and gained some momentum in 2022 and 2023, it’s not a reach to believe that legally betting on sports is in the future for Georgians.
What’s happening in Georgia sports betting right now
- March 3, 2025 — The Senate Committee of Regulated Industries and Utilities voted against Senate Resolution 131, which would amend the state constitution to allow Georgia sports betting. Another bill, Senate Bill 208, is still alive.
- Sept. 16, 2024 — The Atlanta Falcons take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2 on Monday Night Football. Check out the latest odds for the game here.
- June 28, 2024 — The Atlanta Hawks selected small forward Zaccharie Risacher first overall in the NBA Draft. Risacher was -500 to go first overall heading into the draft.
- May 13, 2024 — The Atlanta Hawks won the NBA Draft Lottery and will pick first overall on June 27.
- April 24, 2024 — Industry sources believe Georgia’s 2024 sports betting legalization effort failed because of House leadership challenges and a disagreement on the need for a constitutional amendment.
- April 10, 2024 — Though sports betting is illegal in Georgia, there are other ways to get in on some Masters odds. Check out Masters betting options here.
The status of Georgia sports betting
Georgia’s 2024 legislative session has ended, and no new sports betting legislation was passed. SB 386 and Senate Resolution 579 were the last active bills with any hope of passing, but ultimately neither had enough support on either side of the aisle.
When will online sports betting be legal in Georgia?
Online sports betting would launch in Georgia no earlier than late 2024 or 2025 if approved during this year’s legislative session.
A wrinkle is that, for now, voters must also approve any measure to make the amendment law. Even under the assumption that sports betting would receive the go-ahead, it would likely be several months before the Georgia Lottery could promulgate regulations for the new industry, issue licenses, and allow sportsbooks to launch.
Sportsbook apps that could launch in Georgia
With so much uncertainty, it’s difficult to know which sportsbooks would launch and bring top sports betting promos to Georgia. The failed 2021, 2022, and 2023 legislative efforts allowed for the possibility of at least six online books. Without any gambling venues in the state, these apps would be the only way to bet on sports legally. This exclusivity and Georgia’s population make it an attractive target for most sportsbook companies. However, here are some of the likely candidates to debut should legal online sports betting arrive in GA:
- FanDuel — Its IT hub investment and presence in Georgia for DFS play make FanDuel near-certain to open its sports betting doors in the state should it get the opportunity. It also serves sports bettors in nearby Tennessee, the closest sports betting-friendly location to Georgia’s largest city, Atlanta.
- DraftKings — DraftKings also offers daily fantasy sports contests to people in Georgia, and it is often among the vanguard of sportsbook apps to launch in new states. Like FanDuel, DraftKings is also available in neighboring Tennessee and is quick to launch in states that offer competitive licensing.
- BetMGM — BetMGM Sportsbook is usually among early adopters in new markets. It is part of the market to the north in Tennessee, too, so it’s likely that the book already has some cachet and brand recognition within areas of Georgia.
- Caesars — Caesars Sportsbook is one of the largest sportsbook operations in the country and has significant resources to pursue opportunities in new areas. Its properties in North Carolina are the nearest full-service casinos to those living in northern Georgia, including the residents of Atlanta, Athens, and Augusta.
- BetRivers — BetRivers Sportsbook might not be a familiar name to many in the South, but the app has battled successfully to prove itself in other areas of the country. There’s little reason to assume Rush Street Interactive would pass on Georgia if available.
Latest Georgia sports betting news
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Georgia Strikes Out Again On Sports Betting
The Georgia House adjourned Thursday night without bringing two sports betting bills up for a vote, putting the issue on ice for another year. Thursday was the crossover deadline for…
GA sports betting bills
Despite Georgia’s past resistance to gambling, lawmakers in the Peach State have been diligently working to pass legislation for sports betting since 2020. In the years since, there have been several bills that have sought various ways to authorize sports betting for Georgia’s citizens. The list below is a running collection of those efforts:
- SB 386
- SB 172
- HB 237
- SB403
- HB903 — amendments as part of an unrelated parking bill
- HB86
- SR135
- SB142
- SB 57
- HB 380
- SR 140
We will update this list as more bills proceed through the Georgia Legislature.
Georgia DFS pick’em
While daily fantasy sports platforms and social sports betting sites are unregulated in Georgia, companies such as Underdog, PrizePicks, Fliff, DraftKings, and FanDuel operate in the state.
Georgia came close to legalizing DFS in 2017. The House passed a bill, but the Senate didn’t bring it up for a vote. A 2016 attorney general ruling questioned the legality of DFS in Georgia, but no laws were made to either outlaw or legalize the activity. New DFS legislation was debated during the 2024 legislative session.
Below are some of the daily fantasy sports apps and social sportsbooks currently available in Georgia.
PrizePicks Georgia
PrizePicks provides a simplified DFS platform, allowing users to select “more” or “less” on player stat lines provided by the app. Users can pick either Flex Play contests or Power Play contests. Both require users to pick between two and six stat lines, but Power Play requires users to get every pick correct to win, like a parlay. With Flex Play, the payouts depend on how many correct picks you make. For example, users would get a better payout if they got four of five picks correct versus two of four.
Underdog Georgia
Underdog users have two main categories of contest: draft and pick’em.
With draft contests, users select a team in the standard snake draft format and then leave their team alone for the duration of the contest. Draft contests use a best-ball format, meaning the app will automatically select each team’s best players, so the user does not interact with the team at all after the initial draft. Contests can be as short as one day or as long as the entire season. The team with the most cumulative points wins.
With pick’em contests, users have a couple of options. You can pick an over/under on one player’s stat line or between two players using the same stat, with an adjustment. For example, over or under 85.5 rushing yards for Christian McCaffrey, or McCaffrey +10.5 yards vs. Nick Chubb.
Betr Picks Georgia
Betr Picks contests are another version of the pick’em contests available at Underdog and PrizePicks. However, Betr Picks users must get all of their picks right to win. Users make between two and eight selections and must choose either “yes” or “no” on whether a player will exceed the given stat line. Payouts increase as more selections are made.
ParlayPlay Georgia
Georgia is one of the more than 20 states where ParlayPlay offers paid contests. Its most popular option is a pick’em-style game mode that involves making multiple more/less picks on lines for various player stats. You can play such contests either “all in” or “insured.” The first option means you win only if you get all of your picks correct. The second offers a lower potential payout, but you can still win if you miss one of your picks.
Rebet Georgia
Available in 47 states, including Georgia, Rebet combines elements of an online sportsbook, sweepstakes contests, and social media platforms. Customers can place wagers using dual virtual currencies — “Rebet Coins” and “Rebet Cash.” The second of those offers a chance to redeem winnings for real money. As far as the social aspect, the platform offers peer-to-peer wagering and the option for users to “rebet” their friends’ wagers.
Other legal betting options in Georgia
There are no legal betting options in Georgia. In fact, there are few gambling options in general. Georgians and visitors to the state have the Georgia Lottery, which allows online ticket sales. There are also charitable games such as bingo. But most betting options are nonexistent and prohibited in the state.
Any websites that will take your bet in Georgia are illegal offshore websites that don’t hold a license from any US jurisdiction. Without state regulation, these offshore betting apps can’t be counted on to pay out winnings and have been known to disappear with people’s money. The only safe and protected way to bet on sports in the US is with a licensed sportsbook.
Is horse racing legal in Georgia?
Horse racing is legal in Georgia, but there are no permanent racetracks, and horse racing betting is illegal. The Georgia Steeplechase and Hawkinsville Harness Festival are two annual horse racing events in the state.
Several legislative attempts in recent years have made an effort to legalize horse betting. The Georgia Horse Racing Coalition seeks to bring racetracks and pari-mutuel wagering to the Peach State. But these efforts haven’t made it far. A 2020 bill that would have put the question of horse racing on the November ballot failed. In 2021, a similar effort in the Georgia Senate also failed. SR131 proposed an amendment to the Georgia Constitution that would have allowed wagering to proceed at “licensed racetracks and betting facilities.” However, the proposal failed to progress beyond its initial reading and committee referral.
The most recent attempt to legalize pari-mutuel betting in Georgia occurred in February 2022. A Georgia Senate committee held a hearing but the bill did not advance much farther.
Most popular sports to bet on in Georgia
Georgia has three major professional sports teams in Atlanta and a popular soccer club, but a college team reigns supreme in the state.
NCAA betting in Georgia
Georgia is in the middle of SEC country, where NCAA football is king.
The Georgia Bulldogs are one of the top programs in the country and recently claimed national titles following the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The team’s 37 bowl victories are tied for the second-most of any college football program after Alabama.
While Bulldogs football tops the list, several other NCAA Division I schools also compete in the state:
- Georgia State University
- Georgia Southern University
- Georgia Tech
- Kennesaw State University
- Mercer University
MLB betting in Georgia
The Atlanta Braves have had more success than the other Atlanta professional teams combined. Founded in 1871 as Boston Red Stockings, the Braves are one of the National League’s two remaining charter franchises. Moving to Atlanta from Milwaukee in 1966, the Braves are the only Major League Baseball team to win the World Series for three cities, winning in Atlanta in 1995 and 2021. The Braves also won the NL East all five seasons from 2018-22.
NFL betting in Georgia
In 2016, the Atlanta Falcons nearly brought the city its first Super Bowl championship since joining the NFL in 1966. The high-flying birds lost to the New England Patriots in the first Super Bowl to go to overtime. The Falcons have won their division, the NFC South, four times since the league realigned in 2002, but they have not made the playoffs since 2017.
NBA betting in Georgia
The Hawks haven’t won an NBA championship since moving to the city in 1968, but they’ve had their fair share of success, making the playoffs in 10 consecutive seasons from 2008 to 2017.
MLS betting in Georgia
Atlanta United is the city’s newest team, joining MLS as an expansion team in 2017. But it immediately captured the love of Georgians, setting attendance records and winning the city’s first sports championship in 25 years with the MLS Cup in 2018 and adding the Campeones Cup.
Georgia sports betting timeline
2024
Georgia’s 2024 legislative session starts on Jan. 8. Sen. Bill Cowsert introduces sports betting bill SB 172 on the second day of the session. The bill was carried over from the 2023 session. SB 386 passes the Senate and moves to the House.
The Senate Economic Development & Tourism Committee then advances SB 386 on Jan. 31. The bill has bipartisan support and would allow up to 16 licenses.
Georgia’s legislative session ends on March 28 without passing any new sports betting legislation.
2023
Another year, another legislative session with high hopes regarding the possibility of legal sports betting in Georgia. SB 57, HB 380, and SR 140 are all introduced during the legislative session and seem to have decent backing from some legislators. However, all three die on March 6, 2023, with HB 380 not even receiving a vote in the House. The Senate votes down the other two bills, sending legislators back to the drawing board with the hopes of getting something passed in 2024.
2022
The legislative year begins with high hopes. In January, House Speaker David Ralston suggests allowing Georgians to vote on whether they want casino gaming in the state and figure out what it looks like if the answer is yes. He also adds that there is an appetite to pass a gambling bill in 2022 that has not been there before.
Rep. Ron Stephens tries to amend two pieces of gambling legislature passed by the Senate in 2021 in SR 135 and SB 142. SR 135 would have put gambling on the November ballot for Georgians to approve, while SB 142 would legalize sports betting. However, those efforts are stymied, and the session ended on April 4 with no gambling bills passing. The next session will begin in January 2023.
Meanwhile, efforts in neighboring North Carolina heat up in April before falling apart a few weeks later. This would’ve given Georgia residents another legal sports betting option beyond Tennessee sportsbook apps.
2021
Rep. Ron Stephens redoubles his efforts in the new session and unveils HB 86 as a follow-up to last year’s bill. The bill proposes online-only sports betting, remote registration, and up to six licensees. However, the new bill would not allow college sports wagers.
Stephens’ colleagues in the Senate don’t wait for HB 86 to navigate through the House committee system and offer their own bill, SB 142. The bill is similar to the House version but notably diverges on the subject of betting on college games. SB 142 and its companion, SR 135 (which would put the question on a referendum for voters), passes through the Senate in early March 2021.
The end of the legislative session on March 31 looms over the bills’ proceeding through the House. Because of disagreements about a controversial voting rights bill signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp, sports betting is drawn into a political battle along partisan lines. The arguments are so contentious that, at one point, the NAACP publicly announces its opposition to sports betting in Georgia. Thus, despite their passage through the Georgia Senate, both measures do not progress past the committee stage in the House of Representatives.
2020
Georgia gets off to a late start in making an effort to legalize sports wagering. Lawmakers don’t take an interest in GA sports betting until neighboring Tennessee legalizes the activity.
In February, a group of Senators drops S 403, an online-only sports betting bill similar to what passed in Tennessee. The bill calls for a 10% tax rate and $900,000 annual license fee.
That bill dies in committee, but facing an unforeseen budget crisis as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, lawmakers revive the proposal late in the session by amending the language onto a bill that is still alive.
Stephens follows suit by putting his H 378 into an unneeded Senate bill. His legislation would have put the question of legalizing sports betting, casinos, and horse racing on the ballot to give voters a chance to amend the state constitution to allow the activities. But constitutional amendments require a difficult-to-reach two-thirds vote in the legislature.
Stephens believes that the gambling expansions would be widely approved by voters if only they could get on the ballot. Unfortunately, none of these efforts prove unsuccessful, as the 2020 legislative session ends without any forward motion on the amendments.
Georgia sports betting FAQ
Sports betting is not legal. The state legislature is taking up sports betting again in 2024, but many hurdles remain, including a statewide vote in November if the bill moves through the House of Representatives. The session ends on March 28.
The Georgia Lottery. As is the case in states without many options for legal gambling, the lottery commission in the Peach State serves as the de facto gaming commission. SB 142 designated the Georgia Lottery as the oversight agency for the new industry.
For the limited gambling in Georgia, the legal minimum age is 18. However, sports betting in Georgia will certainly require bettors to be 21, as all of the most successful attempts to legalize so far have included language to that effect.
Yes, with no casinos in the state, Georgia has been exploring the Tennessee model of having sports betting only take place online.
No. There are currently no sportsbook operators licensed at the federal level. All US sportsbooks are licensed at the state level. Any website suggesting it allows betting from anywhere in the US is a website that operates offshore. It’s not legal for those sites to accept bets from US citizens. They offer no protection to those who use them to bet.