Tax Hike on Georgia's Sports Betting Sparks Debate

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00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 - We'll do the same with Georgia.

00:05 There does seem to be at least a little bit of groundswell

00:08 at the possibility of sports betting

00:10 in that state becoming legal.

00:12 And very, to me, compelling story here,

00:15 which is that if indeed sports betting becomes legal,

00:19 at least from what I'm reading,

00:21 is that there'd be a higher tax rate on specific bets.

00:25 And if I'm paying any attention

00:27 and Georgia's paying any attention,

00:29 they're clearly seeing all these advertisements

00:31 for same game parlays and parlays

00:34 and all of these very small bets

00:37 to try and change your life, which never happens,

00:39 but that's story for another day.

00:41 To me, a very sharp idea,

00:44 if they can get away with it, by the way,

00:46 to tax them more, because it feels like,

00:49 at least from the data that we're getting,

00:50 that those are the most placed bets,

00:51 these same game parlays

00:53 are the ones that are being advertised the most,

00:54 no question about that.

00:56 I think the high level takeaway

00:58 of this specific proposal in Georgia

01:01 is that tax proposal.

01:03 I mean, it's a flat rate tax for most bets,

01:07 just your basic single game money line or whatever,

01:11 what have you.

01:13 And then it jumps up another 5%

01:15 for what they call high profit bets,

01:17 which are parlays, in-game wagers, a lot of prop bets.

01:22 And I think when you look at that,

01:25 whether or not this passes,

01:27 this might create a discussion

01:29 across US sports betting markets

01:31 and the legislators who see that and say,

01:34 wow, this might be a way to make

01:35 a little bit of extra revenue,

01:37 maybe a way to curb sports books,

01:40 whether or not you believe it,

01:42 taking advantage of customers.

01:44 I mean, you look at our more business-oriented writers

01:47 like Sam and Matt, and they write about

01:50 how much more money, how much more profitable,

01:54 same game parlays, parlays in general

01:56 are for the sports books

01:57 than just your single game wagers.

01:59 Again, to see what happens in Georgia is one thing.

02:04 This could create a bigger discussion nationwide

02:08 and in other markets.

02:09 So that's certainly something to take away from

02:12 in this specific bill.

02:14 But Georgia has a wider issue,

02:18 kind of the same thing as Missouri.

02:20 We've seen multiple efforts the past couple of years,

02:24 that have just stalled short.

02:26 In Georgia specifically, I mean, nationwide,

02:31 this is a hugely bipartisan effort.

02:33 You've got Democrats and Republicans on both sides

02:36 who love sports betting, who want sports betting,

02:38 see the benefits of it.

02:39 Then you've got people on both sides who don't like it,

02:41 who see the quote unquote evils of sports betting.

02:44 And in Georgia, I think that is the most well-defined state

02:48 in that sense because of the broader national politics

02:51 that have been in Georgia.

02:53 I mean, just look at the 2020 election

02:55 and you know that's what happens in Georgia

02:59 when the Republican Party,

03:01 which is largely the party

03:02 that's leading the sports betting efforts there

03:04 because they control the legislator,

03:07 when they dig into an issue the Democrats don't like,

03:10 they solidify and go against anything

03:12 the Republicans are proposing.

03:15 And that just stalls out sports betting.

03:17 Otherwise, I was just at Nickel G's,

03:19 a conference full of legislators,

03:22 in support of sports betting for the most part.

03:25 And I talked to a couple Democratic leaders from Georgia

03:28 who were like, "Yeah, we're gonna give it our best go."

03:30 And they want it.

03:32 But if their caucus as a whole says,

03:34 "No, we're not gonna support anything

03:36 "the other side wants to do,"

03:38 then you see the death of it.

03:39 And that's exactly what's happened the past two years.

03:41 And you need people on both sides to get it done.

03:43 So what happens this year,

03:46 I've talked to a lot of sources within the industry.

03:49 They fear that maybe the national election

03:52 is just gonna be another nail in the coffin in Georgia

03:54 for a second straight year.

03:56 We'll see.

03:57 They've rolled out a couple bills.

03:58 Again, who knows what happens.

04:01 It could be a good state.

04:03 If all the stars align, it gets it done this year.

04:06 But again, national politics might play a big issue

04:08 into Georgia sports betting this year.

04:11 (upbeat music)

04:14 [MUSIC]

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