Outside of California and Texas, the biggest state without some form of legal sports betting is Georgia. Lawmakers in California and Texas have mostly put legalization on the back burner in the eight years since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was overturned, but some Georgia legislators have tried unsuccessfully at least five times to legalize or allow voters to make that decision.
Wagering operators are betting that 2027 will be the year to add that state. Win for America, funded primarily by DraftKings and FanDuel, has contributed more than $12 million to Georgia political committees that have, in turn, funneled funds to pro-wagering candidates and campaigns, according to campaign finance records reviewed by the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Win for America contributed to both Democrats ($3.4 million to American Future) and Republicans ($8.5 million to American Conservative Fund Action Georgia).
The AJC wrote that “nearly all the 34 candidates supported by the sports-betting groups won their primary election, though the industry spending likely wasn’t the decisive factor in most of those races.”
In Georgia, spending has largely been on political consultants, research groups, and polling, but American Conservative Fund Georgia also contributed to Senate Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte, House Speaker Jon Burns, and House Appropriations Chair Matt Hatchett, all Republicans who won their May primaries with 80% or more of the vote.
Burns did not vote on this year’s failed wagering bill, while Hatchett voted in favor of it. Per Atlanta Civic Circle, American Future also spent on legal gambling opponents Democratic Rep. Bentley Hudgins and Democratic Sen. Kim Jackson. Both were “surprised” the PAC was spending on their behalf.
Win for America’s activity in Georgia is not unique — the group has made political contributions in states across the country, including in California and Texas, as well as in Virginia, where lawmakers have been considering legalizing online casinos.
Operator Super PAC has $72 million
The Win for America Super PAC is funded exclusively by Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) members bet365, DraftKings, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, and FanDuel. SBA member BetMGM has not contributed. Super PACs can raise an unlimited amount of funds but cannot contribute directly to candidates’ campaigns or parties. They can directly spend only on independent political activities such as television advertisements or direct mailers.
Win for America was founded last November and had $72 million, according to the latest Federal Election Commission update through June 30. DraftKings contributed $34 million of that, FanDuel $27 million, and bet365 and Fanatics $5.5 million each.
Win for America has contributed almost exclusively to American Future and American Conservative Fund, both of which have spent money on campaigns in states considering gambling legislation. Among them: Pennsylvania, where a sports betting tax increase was under discussion in budget talks, and Washington, where retail sports betting has been live since September 2021 and the next expansion is likely to be for online sports betting.
In Virginia, five Republican senators who crossed the aisle to support a failed online gaming bill each got a $100,000 donation from the SBA after the fact, according to the Poole Report substack.
Georgia lookback
Democrats lost their majority in the Georgia Senate in 2002 and in the House in 2004, but Democrats were the ones who prevented a legal sports betting bill from becoming law five years ago. While sports betting is generally a non-partisan issue, it has been a political football in Georgia since 2021, when House Democrats pulled their votes for legal betting over what they called a restrictive voting bill also being discussed during a contentious session. That sports betting bill was the first and last that even come close to passage.
Proposals were introduced in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025, but most failed to get a vote in even one chamber, dying when the session closed. The 2025 bill carried over to the 2026 session but failed on the House floor in March, in large part because Democratic lawmakers argued that they were not consulted when the bill was crafted. Democratic co-sponsor Al Williams pulled his support, saying, “This issue really came up Monday, heated up by Wednesday, and got red hot tonight. It went from 0 to 100 degrees and I didn’t have a chance to take my winter clothes off.
“I don’t like to be told the night of, ‘Here is your meal, you either eat it or go hungry.’ But I’ve been hungry before, and I’ve had some good peach ice cream and that will take me through the night. I refuse to be given something that I have had no say in.”
The most recent proposal would have sent the decision on whether to legalize sports betting to the voters in a statewide referendum. Early on, lawmakers in the state wrestled with determining whether a constitutional amendment is needed to legalize, but if they now agree on anything, it seems to be that voters should be the ones who will make the decision in the end.
