00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - You make predictions every year as far as
00:05 which states you think will have
00:07 sports betting being legalized.
00:08 Now again, the field is a lot smaller
00:11 because a lot of states are getting legalized sports betting
00:14 and there's only what, 15 or 20 that don't have it.
00:17 We've talked about Hawaii, Texas,
00:19 we got Florida this past year.
00:21 Georgia was one that there's still,
00:23 and I still think Pat, there's a lot of skepticism around,
00:27 but of the states that are left that don't have it,
00:30 this is a huge story because for it to even get
00:32 to this point means they're basically,
00:35 in my estimation, you tell me if I'm wrong,
00:37 basically two steps away, the House and then a vote.
00:40 And if it goes to a vote, anything can happen.
00:43 - Yeah, and so that's where, I mean, that's the big thing.
00:45 And in the Southeast, which we've talked about
00:48 multiple times on this show already this year,
00:50 we've got Mississippi moving forward through a chamber,
00:53 we've got Alabama moving through a chamber,
00:54 and now we've got two bills in Georgia
00:57 that have gone through a chamber.
00:59 One, of course, passed earlier this month
01:00 that was enacting legislation
01:02 that had an amendment added to it
01:04 that requires a constitutional amendment,
01:07 which requires the public vote.
01:09 So like you said, even if this gets through the House,
01:13 gets to the governor, signed, it's going to the ballot,
01:16 and that's a whole 'nother issue,
01:17 is there the public support there?
01:19 That's, you know, that would be, of course,
01:22 to wait to November.
01:24 But I've been talking to sources across the industry
01:28 and in the legislature, and they're pretty pessimistic.
01:33 I mean, even though the referendum passed the bill
01:35 that would put it to the vote in November,
01:37 passed yesterday through the Senate and goes to the House,
01:39 we'll start hearing some news coming around it
01:43 and some movement coming around it
01:45 probably early next week
01:47 'cause there's a crossover deadline tomorrow.
01:49 So, you know, bills have to pass
01:51 out of the Chamber of Origin.
01:52 So they're focused on that kind of stuff right now.
01:55 But sources are pessimistic,
01:58 and it's because of the same issue
01:59 we've seen in the past two years,
02:01 which is it gets bogged down in other issues.
02:05 Believe it or not, as much as our world,
02:07 we love sports betting and talking sports betting
02:10 and think it's the most important thing in the world,
02:12 legislators and the general public do not.
02:14 And so it gets lost.
02:16 Politicians put it at the bottom of their to-do list,
02:20 and they see other issues that pop up.
02:23 This is a nonpartisan issue,
02:24 so you need bipartisanship to pass it
02:27 because there's opponents on both sides.
02:29 And in Georgia, we've already seen issues kind of pop up
02:32 that are angry in both sides of the party.
02:34 The Republican leadership has killed a Medicaid,
02:42 I forget if it's Medicaid or Medicaid,
02:43 I think it's Medicaid,
02:45 bill that the Democrats are now mad about.
02:49 The Democrats, I forget the issue now,
02:50 but they're trying to push something
02:52 that the Republicans are mad about,
02:53 so you're gonna get them bogged down.
02:56 And just like the past two years,
02:59 you don't get the Democratic support
03:01 to help the Republican majority pass it
03:04 because there's enough Republicans
03:05 who don't want sports betting.
03:07 And so that's where we're at in Georgia.
03:08 And then you put on another factor,
03:11 I've heard from a couple sources,
03:12 that the ballot initiative is another issue,
03:16 is because we already know
03:18 there's a big one coming in Missouri,
03:20 which I can do an update at the end of this real quick,
03:24 and possibly one in Mississippi or Alabama, excuse me,
03:29 possibly one in Nebraska for some casino gaming stuff.
03:34 And this is a huge expenditure for this industry.
03:37 So can you take another estimated 20 million probably
03:42 that it would take from these sports books
03:43 and industry companies to push this initiative
03:47 and in a state that may or may not be
03:50 a sure thing in November?
03:52 It's a lot of money that you're going
03:54 if you're going through four states in that situation.
03:57 So a lot of questions around Georgia.
03:59 It may get through the Senate or the House,
04:02 but you need industry supporters to say,
04:05 you know what, we'll really support this referendum
04:08 and get it passed in November.
04:10 And if they don't, then representatives might be wary
04:14 of getting it all the way through.
04:15 (upbeat music)
04:18 [MUSIC]
