(The Center Square) – State Sen. Brandon Beach proposed casino gambling as a way to lure more sports events to Georgia at a meeting of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee.
Atlanta hosted the College Football Playoff National Championship in January and will host the Super Bowl in 2028. Cobb County’s Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, will host the All-Star Game this summer.
Beach, R-Alpharetta, said the state relies heavily on the private sector to secure the events at the Economic Development Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“You can’t keep going back to the well all the time,” he said. “You’ve got to have a little bit of money for the state to put in the game. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been pushing casino gaming. I think that’d be a nice way to fund some of that.”
Beach is one of the sponsors of Senate Resolution 131, which, if approved by the General Assembly, would give voters a chance to decide if they want to legalize sports betting and casinos on the November 2026 ballot.
Betting would be taxed at 20%. The General Assembly would distribute the first $2 billion in revenue among the state’s counties. A portion of the revenue will go toward gambling addiction programs.
The resolution limits the number of casinos to eight.
The Georgia Senate passed a similar bill in 2024 but it didn’t make it through the House of Representatives.
How much money could Georgia be leaving on the table? Chris Altruda, a sports betting analyst with Sport’s Handle, told The Center Square previously the state could rake in $212.8 million in tax money over 12 months.
Opponents of the measure are reigniting their fight that has stalled bills in previous years.
The Georgia Baptist Mission Board is staunchly opposed to legalizing casinos and sports betting. The organization has created a resolution and is encouraging churches to protest the proposal.
The resolution is assigned to the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee.
