Last month, President-elect Donald Trump won the key battleground state of Georgia by 2.2% over Vice President Kamala Harris, vanquishing a narrow defeat to President Biden in the Peach State four years earlier. One politician believes many of the voters that carried Trump to victory in the state also support sports betting and it’s time for the state to give the voters what they want.
In an opinion-editorial (op-ed) for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, State Sen. Brandon Beach (R-District 21) said many of the voters that supported Trump and carried him to victory in Georgia also want the state to approve sports wagering.
The Georgia Republican Party also placed the question of sports betting on the primary ballot this past May. Republican primary voters were asked, ‘Would you support a statewide vote to allow gaming in Georgia so the voters can decide this issue instead of politicians in Atlanta?,’” observed Beach. “The result was overwhelming. More than 81% of voters agreed this issue should be decided by the voters through a statewide vote, so why do Republicans keep denying our base that opportunity?”
Georgia is the ninth-largest state by population and is one of the just three — California and Texas are the others — in the top 20 that doesn’t permit some form of regulated sports betting.
Georgia Has Teased Sports Bettors, Gaming Companies
Owing to their respective populations, California and Texas are the “golden geese” of the US sports wagering landscape, but for different reasons, neither is likely to approve this form of betting over the near- to medium-term.
As a result of the dynamics in those two states, gaming companies and industry observers have honed in on Georgia as the best option among the remaining large states without sports betting to shed that status. However, the state has tormented bettors by attempting to move sports wagering legislation multiple times only to see those bills die. That happened again earlier this year.
In her second bid for the governor’s mansion in 2022, Democrat Stacey Abrams supported legalization of sports betting in Georgia, but she lost to incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp who is believed to have loosened his views on the matter. For his part, Beach believes the voters should have their say on the matter because it will signal that the state is a welcoming environment for major sporting events and fans.
“Republicans will only have ourselves to blame when FIFA, the NFL, the NCAA and others decide Georgia isn’t a fan-friendly state to locate big games because of our refusal to legalize sports betting,” wrote the state senator.
It’s Possible Trump Voters Back Sports Betting
Currently, there is no hard data confirming that it was supporters of sports betting that carried Trump to victory in Georgia. The Republican ballot primary question referenced by Beach merely asked voters if they want to have a say on the matter.
However, with Trump having won the state and the issue of sports wagering consistently polling favorably there, it’s plausible to assume many of the voters that want that form of wagering to come to Georgia also voted for the president-elect last month. It’s also clear that legal or not, Georgians are betting on sports.
“Georgia is one of the top locations for people searching for the illegal and offshore casino Bovada. GeoComply, a company that conducts location checks for regulated sports betting sites in the United States, noted a more than 100% increase in Georgia-based players trying to access legal sportsbooks in other states over the same period last year,” added Beach.
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