Georgia’s Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee is to consider a new bill that would legalise mobile sports wagering in the US state.
Senate Bill 403 was introduced to the Georgia Senate last week with the support of author, Senator Burt Jones, and fellow Senators Jeff Mullis, Brandon Beach, Ed Harbison and David Lucas.
The bill would only legalise sports wagering via mobile in the state, setting out plans to create the Georgia Mobile Sports Wagering Integrity Commission to regulate the market, which would sit within the Georgia Lottery Corporation.
The Commission would be tasked with processing licence applications, which will be available to operators willing to pay a non-refundable application fee of $50,000, in addition to an annual renewal payment of $900,000, to secure a permit.
License holders would be taxed at a rate of 10% on adjusted gross income from sports betting activities in Georgia. This would be paid on a monthly basis, based on adjusted gross income from the preceding calendar month.
The bill noted that net proceeds of lottery games would be used to help support improvements for educational programs, as well as for pre-kindergarten funding.
In addition, all license-holders in the state would be required to exclusively use official league data for offering live betting.
Other measures outlined in the bill include that players would need to be at least 21 years of age, and physically located inside the state, in order to place a wager with a licensed operator.
The introduction of SB403 comes after a dedicated Georgia Senate committee studying gambling in October last year heard presentations and testimony from a series of industry stakeholders about a possible sports betting bill in the state.
The committee, which was established in April 2019 to study opportunities to regulate betting, gaming and horse racing in the state, heard from a range of operators, suppliers, sports organizations and related bodies share their views on what form Georgia’s regulated sports betting industry should take.
Scientific Games, Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings and FanDuel all testified before the Senate Study Committee on Gaming and Pari-mutual Wagering on Horse Racing and Growing Georgia’s Equine Industry.
SB403 is supported by the Georgia Professional Sports Integrity Alliance, a consortium comprising the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta United sports franchises that was formed least year to lobby for legal mobile and retail wagering.