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SportsTranscript
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]