SUPPORT HR 450 IN GEORGIA
With the passage of HR 450, Georgia voters would get the opportunity to vote on legal online sports betting. Legalizing sports betting would help to shut down the shady, unregulated market and would generate $150 million a year in new tax revenue—funds that would be used for education, primarily Pre-K!
- In Georgia, the cost of a pre-kindergarten program per child in 2024 was approximately $5,285. That means if we legalized sports betting, approximately 28,000 four-year-olds would get to learn.
- 78% of Georgians agree this decision should be made at the ballot box.
- Every year, millions of dollars in potential tax revenue are lost to offshore sites and neighboring states like Tennessee and North Carolina.
“We have no ability to regulate the bad actors, people that are getting in bad situations. We simply are trying to rein that in, bring tax dollars in the states, allow for that money to go directly to education.”
“This initiative will give the funding to have Pre-K which will teach our young people to read, particularly for those who English is a second language, that’s going to help with workforce, help with childcare, if a child is in pre-k their parent can work during that time. There are a lot of good things about this.”
Illegal sports betting hurts customers
Legal and regulated online sports betting offers a safe alternative to the illicit offshore marketplace, which continues to flourish in states that haven’t yet legalized online sports betting.
Experts estimate customers spend tens of billions on the illegal sports betting market each year, depriving state and local governments of significant tax revenue. These illegal and unregulated offshore sports betting websites are unsafe products – offering no consumer protections, age verification or responsible gaming protections. Illicit market users also routinely fall victim to scams and find themselves unable to remove funds from their accounts.
Customers deserve access to legal, safe and consumer-protected platforms to place sports bets online.