Georgia Thinks It's Meaningfully Banning Sports Betting, When It's Not
A daily fantasy sports app did deals with two Atlanta pro sports teams
Another legislative session came and went in Georgia without the state legalizing online sports betting.
That, in and of itself, isn’t terribly notable or interesting. It’s not the first time, and despite the pace at which states have adopted sports betting, it can still be difficult to pass legislation of any type because of the political concerns in a jurisdiction.
What is interesting? Within days of the legislature deciding not to act on sports betting, a daily fantasy sports (DFS) app did a pair of deals with Atlanta pro sports teams. PrizePicks recently announced a new deal with Atlanta United of Major League Soccer and an extension of its deal with the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball.
I promise this isn’t just going to be a substack about DFS sites, but I recently wrote about the idea that daily fantasy sports as offered by PrizePicks and others may be a legal form of paid fantasy sports, but it’s also gambling.
My point for Georgia: congratulations on your non-ban of online sports betting. Your major sports franchises are doing deals to allow parlay betting on players. (And of course offshore operators are still serving the state.)
The hand-wringing over legalization in Georgia (and elsewhere) is kind of funny, viewed through the lens of fantasy sports operators that face very little of the regulation that actual sportsbooks do.
I am currently in Texas, another place without legal sports betting that looks like it will do nothing this year. Yet I am welcome to “play DFS” at PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy and similar apps in Texas as I type this, even though their form of DFS is functionally the same as parlay betting at sportsboook apps.
Anyway, that’s it for today’s mini-rant. I’ll be back to shout at more clouds when I return home to Oregon, where I can at least bet at one app that is legal.
