00:00Sam, the state of Georgia has yet to legalize sports betting, and I'm not sure that that happens anytime soon.
00:05It feels like a couple of members of the legislature trying to sort of maybe steamroll this thing forward to
00:11try to get it going.
00:12And now, of course, some pushback here.
00:14I don't know that it'll ever happen in Georgia, but I said that about Florida for years, Sam, and it
00:18ended up happening here.
00:19What's the latest there?
00:22Yeah, Craig, if I were you, I would just keep saying it doesn't happen then with your track record.
00:26Eventually, this will all get through, right?
00:27That's at least what one lawmaker is hoping in Georgia.
00:30It was actually the first time ever that a bill was heard on the House floor that would have legalized
00:36sports betting in Georgia, which is a huge state that sports books would love to have online.
00:40Obviously, there's a huge appetite for sports in the state.
00:44But the really interesting thing here is the lawmaker, Representative Al Williams, who testified against the bill for about nine
00:50minutes on the floor, effectively killing it when it was voted down 98 to 63.
00:54He's actually one of the biggest proponents of sports betting in Georgia.
00:59He's been calling for the legislature to legalize it forever, but he actually spoke against the bill.
01:04He's the incoming head of the National Council of Legislators for State Gaming, which is kind of a group of
01:10state legislators from around the country that all talk about gaming and share best practices and advices and advocate for
01:17it together.
01:17But he came out and said he wasn't included in the tax revenue process for the bill under the current
01:23bill that was just voted down.
01:25The money would have gone towards education in Georgia and towards a scholarship fund for, you know, individuals who meet
01:33certain standards in the state to allow them to go to college and private high schools potentially.
01:39But he said he wasn't involved in this tax process, which is kind of questionable because it's the same bill
01:45that's been around since January of 2025.
01:48So he came out and said, you know, if you're not going to involve me at all, then I'm going
01:52to come out against it.
01:53And this is what you should expect. So it seems to kind of be getting personal here.
01:56I have one source in the state who's saying that, you know, the bill is as written, has been that
02:01way for over a year now.
02:03If he wanted to make any changes, he had the opportunity, especially with the position he's in as well.
02:08And they also added that he didn't really express these concerns until very late in the process.
02:12So unfortunately, it looks like sports betting would not be legalized in Georgia this time for a strange political reason.
02:19But maybe next year there are no more reasons.
02:21But, you know, we'll have to keep seeing, keep watching how things progress in Georgia.
Comments