Wynn 'Seriously Considering' Multibillion-Dollar Casino If Georgia Legalizes Gambling

Casino giants Wynn Resorts and Boyd Gaming have their eyes set on Georgia if lawmakers finally move to legalize gambling.

Wynn is “seriously considering Georgia” for a casino if ever given a legal green light, Christopher Gordon, the president of the Las Vegas-based resort and casino operator's development arm, Wynn Development, told Georgia lawmakers Monday morning.

Boyd Gaming would also vie for a casino in the Peach State if the ban on gambling in the state constitution were to be amended, said Ryan Soultz, vice president for government affairs at the Vegas-based casino company, which had more than $1B in revenue in the second quarter.

“Obviously, we would love to be in Georgia if you decide to let your constituents approve and vote on” legalized gaming, Soultz said during a Georgia House of Representatives study committee meeting on legalized gaming. 

Soultz and Gordon were short on specifics on where in Georgia their companies would consider developing casinos, but the hearing was the latest example of industry players and legalized gaming supporters pushing state legislators to upend the state's gambling ban. 

Efforts to legalize casinos and sports betting have repeatedly stalled in the Gold Dome. A March resolution for a statewide ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to allow online sports betting failed to reach a vote before the end of this year's legislative session. 

An effort in 2018 to legalize casino gaming at three resort destinations, including in Metro Atlanta and Savannah, also sputtered out.

But in April, lawmakers created the House Study Committee on Gaming in the State of Georgia to weigh the economic impacts of casinos and sports betting “against what social and societal ills may come to Georgia if gaming is approved.”

Monday’s hearing, the second held by the committee, focused more broadly on the potential economic, job and tax revenue impacts through casino and sports betting as well as the need for strong regulatory guardrails to protect consumers. Industry experts also called for the state to limit the number of casinos to prevent cannibalization. 

Gordon said Georgia could host a casino resort similar to Wynn’s Encore Boston Harbor, which opened in 2019.

The $2.6B, 3.1M SF casino hosted 7 million visitors last year and has contributed more than $1B in gaming taxes to Massachusetts so far, Gordon said. Wynn sold the property to Realty Income for $1.7B in 2022 and pays more than $100M a year to lease it back. Encore Boston Harbor generated more than $215M in revenue for Wynn in the second quarter.

Gordon said a Wynn casino in Georgia could employ between 3,000 and 4,000 workers.

“What you can’t dispute is the economic benefits,” he said. “These things are an engine that you can’t imagine if you build the right ones and you get the right operators.”

Real Professionals Network founder and commercial real estate veteran Rick Lackey told lawmakers that there are a handful of areas in the state that would make ideal casino destinations, including Midtown and Downtown Atlanta, along the northern arc of Interstate 285 and by Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Other locations pitched by Lackey, a longtime advocate for casino gaming in Georgia, include a 500-acre parcel along Interstate 85 and Lake Hartwell in North Georgia, Savannah and Camden County near the Florida border.  

“Atlanta is a great market, but it’s going to take a big-time player to make Atlanta happen,” Lackey said. 

But there appears to be little appetite in the state legislature for casino legalization in the near future.

Republican state Rep. Ron Stephens, whose South Georgia district covers portions of Savannah, told Bisnow after the meeting that the focus in January's legislative session will again be on legalizing online sports betting through a House bill similar to the one that died this year.

Those proposals would grant master sports betting licenses to a host of organizations, including the Georgia Lottery Corp., the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United and Augusta National, according to the Georgia Recorder.

It would also outline a structure on how gaming proceeds could be used and what types of bets could be made on what particular sports. If passed, the proposals would require a supermajority of the state House and Senate to amend the constitution to allow for sports betting after a statewide referendum of voters next year.

“Truth is, I don’t think casinos or horse racing is going to have legs this year,” Stephens said.

Stephens said the Georgia Lottery needs to be able to expand its offerings beyond the paper lottery and scratch-off tickets, whose proceeds are used to fund the popular HOPE Scholarship and pre-K education in Georgia, especially as other neighboring states begin to permit sports betting.

Recently, the Committee to Preserve HOPE Scholarships warned that the merit-based higher education funding could run dry by 2028.

“I don’t see us keeping up and being competitive with our surrounding states …unless we have the opportunity for the lottery commission to procure some of these other types of games,” he said. 

Former North Carolina state Rep. Jason Saine, who led the successful 2023 push to legalize sports betting in that state, said North Carolina was previously losing $4B a year to offshore betting operations. 

Saine, who lobbies for sports betting operators with The Southern Group, said during the committee hearing that North Carolina saw “explosive growth” in tax revenues from sports betting, with the state projected to reap more than $116M in taxes this year, outpacing its initial forecast of $64M.

Given the similar economic and population dynamics of North Carolina, “Georgia could see a similar surge,” he said. 

“We push activity out of the shadows and reduce corruption,” Saine said. “We’re repatriating that money back to the state.”

PGA Tour Vice President of Gaming Scott Warfield said legalized sports betting has helped the organization attract new and younger fans, with people attending more events and tournaments.

“This attracts a 35-to-44-year-old fan base to come in and have a $5 bet on the tournament,” Warfield said. “They may not have been predisposed to golf before.

“Sports betting is already happening here in Georgia. We’re just not able to monitor it, and you’re not able to tax it.”