Boyd Gaming, Wynn Express Interest in Georgia Casinos
Posted on: August 28, 2025, 11:20h.
Last updated on: August 28, 2025, 11:47h.
- Both gaming companies say they’re interested in bringing casinos to Georgia
- There’s a long road ahead as the state has a track record of defeating gaming expansion legislation
Count Boyd Gaming and Wynn Resorts among the companies that would bid for casino licenses in Georgia if the state eventually approves gaming expansion.
Appearing before a Georgia House of Representatives study committee on wagering earlier this week, Wynn Development Christopher Gordon and Boyd Vice President for Government Affairs Ryan Soultz said their respective employers would be eager to enter the state should lawmakers there give voters the opportunity to have a say on the matter. Not surprisingly, the gaming executive touted the economic benefits of land-based casinos.
What you can’t dispute is the economic benefits,” Gordon told the study committee. “These things are an engine that you can’t imagine if you build the right ones and you get the right operators.”
Under the Peach State’s constitution, super-majorities in both chambers of the state legislature must approve gaming expansion before the matter can be put to voters. From there, a simple majority of voters must affirm the issue so that the state constitution can be amended.
Georgia Casinos a Famously Tough Battle
As proven by the annual sports betting debate, gaming expansion is a tough road for legislators and operators to traverse in Georgia.
The state is one of the hardest in which to add new forms of wagering. It has a state lottery and some small charitable gaming venues, but doesn’t permit iGaming or sports betting, and it joins Alabama, Hawaii, South Carolina, and Utah as the only states to not have at least one commercial or tribal gaming venue.
Still, the allure of Georgia is understandable. It’s the eighth-largest state in the country, and that alone could ensure the issue of gaming expansions, including brick-and-mortar casinos, continues appearing there. The current wisdom among state political insiders is that the issue is dead for 2025, but the subject of casinos is almost certain to be proposed again next year.
Obviously, we would love to be in Georgia if you decide to let your constituents approve and vote on casinos,” Boyd’s Soultz said at the hearing.
Las Vegas-based Boyd has experience in running casinos in the South, including multiple venues in Louisiana and Mississippi, and it’s currently building a regional casino in Norfolk, Va. in partnership with the Pamunkey Indian Tribe.
Questions Abound on Georgia Casino Locations
Gordon and Soultz didn’t go into much detail about where their employers would build in Georgia, if permitted, but a defeated 2018 bill would have opened the door to three casinos in the state, including in Atlanta and Savannah.
Rick Lackey, a Georgia commercial real estate veteran, told the committee Atlanta is an enticing market, but it will require “a big-time player to make Atlanta happen.” Wynn checks that box, and should it make a Georgia casino reality, it could appease some investors who want to see the operator better leverage its iconic brand in the US.
Wynn has experience operating in urban areas outside of Las Vegas. At the committee meeting, Gordon highlighted the success of Encore Boston Harbor, which has delivered $1 billion in taxes to Massachusetts since opening six years ago.
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