There doesn’t appear to be much momentum right now for another run at legalizing sports betting in Georgia.
- A Senate tourism committee casually recommended legalizing mobile sports wagering, while a House gaming study committee released a final report with no conclusions or recommendations.
- The lack of momentum is underscored by the House committee’s inconclusive nine-page recap and the resignation of its pro-sports betting chair.
- Even with the weak guidance from the study committees, lawmakers are still likely to revisit sports betting legalization in 2026 amid ongoing unregulated wagering in the state.
Yes, a state Senate committee, set up to study bolstering Georgia as a tourism destination, did recommend legalizing mobile sports wagering. However, it appears the recommendation was more of an afterthought and not something committee members seriously considered.
Furthermore, a Georgia House committee that studied the possible expansion of gambling in the state has now officially made no recommendations at all.
The final report of the House Study Committee on Gaming in the State of Georgia was published recently, following four meetings and approximately 12 hours of testimony. The committee was created via a House resolution passed earlier this year.
Georgia isn't going to legalize sports betting this year. But that doesn't mean lawmakers in Georgia are done talking about legal sports betting this year:https://t.co/UMpNqbqgRr @Covers
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) July 29, 2025
As the final report notes, the committee was established to “study the pros and cons of expanding gaming within the state,” including the potential authorization of sports betting.
“In particular, the committee was tasked with reviewing: 1) how gaming would contribute to the Georgia economy regarding economic development and quality of jobs while weighed against social and societal ills; 2) whether legalization of gaming would increase tax revenues and aid the budget; 3) whether Georgians are traveling out of state to game currently; and 4) whether horse racing would expand horse breeding, raising, and training within the state,” the report says.
The report goes on to recap the recent history of legislative efforts to legalize certain forms of gambling in the state, including several attempts to authorize Georgia sports betting this past year.
However, after that, the report merely recaps the meetings held by the gaming study committee and who appeared before its members to testify. The nine-page report concludes without any findings or recommendations for lawmakers.
A spokesperson for the House Speaker's Office confirmed to Covers that the published report is indeed the final report of the gaming study committee.
“Per the House Resolution, the Study Committee is not required to publish any specific legislative recommendations,” they added.
So, that’s that from the study committee, then.
Not looking good right now
None of the above inspires confidence that 2026 will be the year that Georgia finally legalizes sports betting, or any other additional form of gambling, such as pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing or brick-and-mortar casinos.
That lackluster feeling and the inconclusive study committee report could be due in no small part to the recent resignation of Rep. Marcus Wiedower, a lawmaker who chaired the gaming study committee and has backed sports betting proposals in the past in the state legislature.
The study committee's final report notes Wiedower resigned Oct. 28, with the pro-sports betting lawmaker saying he was stepping down to focus on a business opportunity. It does not appear that Wiedower signed the final report.
Moreover, the recommendation by the Senate tourism study committee to legalize mobile sports wagering was added as an afterthought, which similarly doesn’t inspire confidence.
The Center Square reported that the Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism did not discuss the recommendation at all and that the committee’s chair said it was added at the last minute.
From yesterday's Nevada ruling against Kalshi:
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) November 26, 2025
When Chief District Judge Andrew Gordon applied the famous porn test (my paraphrasing) to sports event contracts, he concluded: "These are sports wagers and everyone who sees them knows it." pic.twitter.com/d5Jbh8HOOW
It’s still likely that Georgia lawmakers will again debate the legalization of sports betting in the state in 2026. They just won't have any strong study committee recommendation to which they can point.
Nevertheless, the House gaming study committee members were presented with plenty of data and information during their meetings, including reasons for and against any additional legalization of gambling in the state. It’s possible those arguments will be aired in the legislature in 2026.
For one thing, forms of sports betting and online gambling are taking place in Georgia already, albeit without the authorization of the state legislature. They include offshore sportsbooks and federally regulated prediction markets, such as Kalshi and Crypto.com.
Prediction markets are a new wrinkle for Georgia lawmakers to consider and something about which the House gaming study committee was warned.
While members of the Georgia legislature have debated whether to legalize sports betting for years, it's only over the past year or so that U.S.-based prediction markets have added sports event contracts to their repertoire, facilitating a de facto form of sports wagering in all 50 states.
Although some states are challenging the legality of those event contracts, for now they mostly remain legal and available across the U.S.
Wiedower said in July, as the committee kicked off its work, that his past sports betting efforts had been “not to expand or encourage but to regulate and put guardrails on things that are already happening in this state prevalently.”
