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With Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026 here, Georgia lawmakers are back in the same argument they have been having for years. Sports betting is still illegal in the state. Yet many Georgians are already staking money through daily fantasy and “skill-based” sports apps, plus newer channels like prediction-style markets.
That gap is what some senators want to close. Others want to shut it down.
“It’s unregulated and people are doing it”
State Sen. Derek Mallow says the state is watching revenue walk out the door. In an interview, he argued that legalization would let Georgia set rules and collect taxes that could support public priorities.
“We’re missing out on tax revenue in this state where we could use it to fund education, [and] we could fund addiction programs,” Mallow said.
The urgency is also financial. The American Gaming Association says Americans are projected to wager $1.76 billion on the Super Bowl this weekend, a reminder of the scale lawmakers are leaving untapped while Georgia sits on the sidelines.
The skill-game apps and the backlash
Another related flashpoint is how companies look to bypass Georgia’s regulations with how they describe themselves.
Companies like PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy pitch their products as skill-based contests, not games of chance.
To many everyday users, the experience still looks like sports betting, pick outcomes, stake money, win if you’re right, but it runs through a regulatory gap that Georgia hasn’t fully pinned down.
Critics say that gap isn’t clever. It’s dangerous.
Jeanne Seaver, founder of Moms Against Gambling, argues the state is normalising wagering through products that sit outside the guardrails of a regulated market. She also questions the optics of a major operator being based in Georgia while traditional sports betting remains illegal.
No action forseeable in the near future
Lawmakers at the Capitol described a market that is already active, just not supervised. The next fight is whether Georgia writes rules for it, taxes it, and funds treatment, or keeps the ban in place while residents keep finding ways to wager anyway.
Source: WOTC
