Good news for Georgia online sports betting, as a University of Georgia survey found voters are slightly in favor of legalizing online sports betting in the Peach State.

A survey from the School of Public & International Affairs at the University of Georgia found 45.2% of 1,030 likely general election voters in the state supported legalizing Georgia online sports betting compared with 42.6% of voters who oppose the idea. Just 11.8% of surveyed voters were undecided on the issue.

Liberals, males support online sports betting

Georgia’s legislature has considered legalizing online sports betting over the past few years with a number of failed bills and half-hearted calls for ballot initiatives to put it to the voters of the state. To legalize gambling in the state, two-thirds of each Georgia legislative chamber would have to vote to put the measure on an upcoming ballot.

Males heavily outweighed surveyed females in their support of online sports betting, as 58.2% of males respondents support the idea compared with just 35.4% of females. Additionally, 51.3% of liberal voters support Georgia online sports betting compared with just 42.2% of conservative voters.

The voting subsection most in favor of online sports betting in the state? Surveyed voters who reported their income between $100,000 and $149,999 a year approved of the idea at a 59.2% clip. The voting subsection most against online sports betting? 73% of respondents who make under $25,000 a year reported being against any bill that would legalize online sports betting.

Interestingly enough, Georgia voters heavily support the idea of casino gambling in the state, as 59.7% of survey respondents support casino gambling, 29.1% oppose the idea, and 11.3% answered “don’t know.”

Georgia sports betting fails again in 2022

The final day of Georgia’s 2022 legislative session ended with no movement on Georgia sports betting after a late push to pass the measure this year.

In March, the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee approved legislation SB 142, a bill to legalize online and retail sports betting, and SR 135, a resolution to allow for the vote on a constitutional amendment in November to legalize sports betting, after the two bills were considered dead in the state.

Ironically, legislators ended up passing SR 135 on the final night of the 2022 legislative session, but amended the bill to replace its sports betting language with a timber tax break bill.

By not approving the pieces of legislation this year, the Peach State likely won’t be able to launch sports betting by 2024 at the earliest. Georgia’s constitution prohibits most forms of gambling, including sports betting and casinos, so any sports betting bill would likely have to be approved by state voters in a general election ballot referendum.

The bills would have legalized retail and online sports betting in the Georgia. Eighteen online sports betting licenses would have been available, with licenses split between Georgia professional sports franchises and other entities. Professional sports franchises would have been able to offer both retail and online sports betting in the state.

The bill set its sports betting tax rate at 20%, with potential license holders having to pay a $100,000 application fee and a $1 million license fee to operate in the state.

A Georgia Gaming Commission would have been created to oversee all legislation regarding state gaming.

Georgia lawmakers attempted to legalize sports betting in 2021, but weren’t able to push a bill through the Georgia House of Representatives. Members of the Georgia Senate passed bill SB 142 by a vote of 32-17 in March 2021. The bill would have legalized Georgia sports betting and put it under the purveyance of the Georgia Lottery. However, it stalled out in the House and never received a vote.