PGA Tour Urges Lawmakers in Georgia, Home of the Masters, to Tee Up Sports Betting

Posted on: August 26, 2025, 08:18h. 

Last updated on: August 26, 2025, 09:13h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • The PGA Tour is supporting efforts to legalize sports betting in Georgia
  • The Peach State plays a major role in the PGA Tour’s annual operations

Officials with the PGA Tour, testifying on Monday before the House Study Committee on Gaming in Georgia, encouraged the body to recommend that sports betting be legalized in the Peach State.

PGA Tour sports betting Georgia
Tommy Fleetwood hits a drive on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The PGA Tour is encouraging lawmakers in Georgia to bring legal sports betting to the state. (Image: Getty)

This legislative offseason, members of the House Gaming Study Committee, formed through the enactment of House Resolution 753 earlier this year, are reviewing various aspects of the commercial gaming industry. Following its summer and fall hearings, the committee will make recommendations to the General Assembly on which types of gambling, if any, to ponder during the 2026 legislative session.

The committee held its second gathering on Monday in the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. The PGA Tour was invited to testify on whether it thinks the state should join the 39 other states that have authorized some type of legal sports gambling.

Scott Warfield, the PGA Tour’s vice president of gaming, said the professional golf circuit enthusiastically supports the liberalization of regulated sports gambling. He says legal sports betting has increased fan engagement, grown tournament spectatorship, and fueled television ratings.

Next on the Tee … Sports Betting 

Testifying before the House Gaming Study Committee, Warfield, who previously led NASCAR’s foray into gaming, said legal sports betting benefits sports leagues but also the states that allow it.

“Legal mobile sports betting is good for the state of Georgie and its constituents. Legalization provides greater oversight and consumer protections, helping us to protect the integrity of our game as well as millions of fans,” Warfield said.

If done right, this legalized activity helps us better engage our core fans, as well as attract new audiences,” Warfield continued. “Sports betting is already happening here in Georgia — we’re just not able to monitor it, and you all aren’t able to tax it.”

Warfield’s presentation highlighted that legal sports betting is already occurring in several neighboring states, including Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida.

Rep. Alan Powell (R-Hartwell), a longtime state lawmaker, asked how the leagues and sports benefit from legal sports betting.

“What’s really in it for the sports teams?” Powell questioned. “What’s the profitability? What are you all getting back? Because in this world, nobody gets involved for the good-natured humankind.”

Joe Pierce, senior vice president and general counsel for AMB Sports and Entertainment, the parent entity of the NFL Atlanta Falcons, MLS Atlanta United, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the sports conglomerate of Home Depot billionaire Arthur Morris Blank, said there are various ways the leagues and teams make money from legal sports betting.

Pierce explained that the primary way teams benefit is through sponsorship deals with legal sports betting operators. As for the leagues and sports organizations, they often strike revenue deals with sportsbooks to acquire their official data streams. 

Golf in Georgia

Few states are as important to the PGA Tour and golf in general as Georgia.

Augusta National Golf Club hosts one of golf’s four major tournaments each year — the Masters — in April. Georgia is also home to the Tour Championship by way of East Lake Golf Club, which concluded this past Sunday with a thrilling victory from Tommy Fleetwood.

Georgia also hosts the RSM Classic on St. Simons Island each November.