{"id":127014,"date":"2020-02-14T15:22:47","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T23:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=127014"},"modified":"2020-02-14T17:23:05","modified_gmt":"2020-02-15T01:23:05","slug":"atlanta-pro-sports-alliance-makes-its-case-for-georgia-sports-betting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlanta-pro-sports-alliance-makes-its-case-for-georgia-sports-betting\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlanta Pro Sports Alliance Makes Its Case for Georgia Sports Betting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Atlanta professional sports teams continued efforts to legalize sports betting in Georgia this week, telling reporters that regulated wagering would be a boon for the state and for the integrity of their competitions.<\/p>\n

\"Atlanta
The Atlanta Braves teamed up with the Falcons, Hawks, and Atlanta United to create the Georgia Professional Sports Integrity Alliance. (Image: Reinhold Matay\/USA Today Sports)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks, and Atlanta United formed the Georgia Professional Sports Integrity Alliance<\/a> last year. The mission was to argue that illegal wagering is a much bigger threat to their competitions than regulated betting could ever be.<\/p>\n

Atlanta Teams Prefer Regulation to Illegal Betting<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The formation of the alliance was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/em> in November.<\/p>\n

“We felt it was important that we formed this alliance so that we could advise the Legislature if they\u2019re going to consider drafting legislation,\u201d Atlanta Braves president and CEO Derek Schiller told the AJC<\/em>. \u201c[The alliance want to ensure] that this activity \u2013 that is happening already \u2013 gets regulated in the right way, and for us, most importantly, that we ensure that the integrity of the sport is preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Atlanta Falcons president Rick McKay told the Atlanta Press Club that people wager an enormous sum of money illegally in the state, mostly via mobile betting.<\/p>\n

In the state of Georgia, it\u2019s thought to be $1.5 billion was wagered last year, illegally,\u201d<\/strong> McKay said during a roundtable discussion. \u201cI guarantee you it was bet on the phone.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The teams argue that legalized betting can prevent integrity issues, thanks to regulation and monitoring. In contrast, illegal betting happens under the table, increasing integrity threats. Additionally, legalized wagering will likely increase fan engagement, providing indirect benefits for the teams themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean certainly, if people are more engaged because of that, that\u2019s a great thing,\u201d Schiller said. \u201cBut if gambling on a sport doesn\u2019t happen in a legal way, we do know it\u2019s happening illegally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sports Betting Expansion May Require Amendment<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Attempts to legalize sports betting in Georgia have come up in recent years. However, efforts to push for a constitutional amendment to allow such a gambling expansion have failed in the past. The teams argue that sports betting can be authorized by passing legislation instead.<\/p>\n

Any expansion of horse racing or casino gambling requires a constitutional amendment in Georgia. Lawyers in the state legislature have told lawmakers that even if it might be possible to squeeze through sports betting via regular legislation, it might be smarter and safer to do so via an amendment.<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re going to allow sports betting, and most other types of betting, the wise course, the safe course \u2013 and in order to give the people of Georgia the opportunity to weigh in on the issue \u2013 would certainly be to go through with a well-crafted constitutional amendment,\u201d Legislative Counsel Rick Ruskell told lawmakers last year.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Georgia voters might be willing to help pass such an amendment. Last month, an AJC <\/em>poll<\/a> found that 64 percent of state residents were in favor of allowing casinos in the state, while 57 percent support allowing sports betting.<\/p>\n

“It is something that everybody can get behind,” Schiller told the Atlanta Press Club on Thursday. “Taxing something that is already ongoing and receiving those revenues to the state and allowing the politicians to determine where the dollars then go to.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Atlanta professional sports teams continued efforts to legalize sports betting in Georgia this week, telling reporters that regulated wagering would be a boon for the state and for the integrity of their competitions. The Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks, and Atlanta United formed the Georgia Professional Sports Integrity Alliance last year. The mission was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":127015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAtlanta Pro Sports Alliance Makes Its Case for Georgia Sports Betting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Atlanta sports executives held a roundtable with the Atlanta Press Club Thursday, explaining why they wanted legalized sports betting in Georgia.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlanta-pro-sports-alliance-makes-its-case-for-georgia-sports-betting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Atlanta Pro Sports Alliance Makes Its Case for Georgia Sports Betting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Atlanta sports executives held a roundtable with the Atlanta Press Club Thursday, explaining why they wanted legalized sports betting in Georgia.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlanta-pro-sports-alliance-makes-its-case-for-georgia-sports-betting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-14T23:22:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-15T01:23:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Atlanta-Sports-Betting-Alliance.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlanta-pro-sports-alliance-makes-its-case-for-georgia-sports-betting\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlanta-pro-sports-alliance-makes-its-case-for-georgia-sports-betting\/\",\"name\":\"Atlanta Pro Sports Alliance Makes Its Case for Georgia Sports Betting\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlanta-pro-sports-alliance-makes-its-case-for-georgia-sports-betting\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlanta-pro-sports-alliance-makes-its-case-for-georgia-sports-betting\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Atlanta-Sports-Betting-Alliance.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-14T23:22:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-15T01:23:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Atlanta sports executives held a roundtable with the Atlanta Press Club Thursday, explaining why they wanted legalized sports betting in Georgia.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlanta-pro-sports-alliance-makes-its-case-for-georgia-sports-betting\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlanta-pro-sports-alliance-makes-its-case-for-georgia-sports-betting\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/atlanta-pro-sports-alliance-makes-its-case-for-georgia-sports-betting\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Atlanta-Sports-Betting-Alliance.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Atlanta-Sports-Betting-Alliance.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"The Atlanta Braves teamed up with the Falcons, Hawks, and Atlanta United to create the Georgia Professional Sports Integrity Alliance. 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