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The state of Georgia is known for having some of the strictest gambling laws in the United States. Many want this to change, though. There’s been a recent push to expand the state’s gambling industry. There’s even a push to open a casino at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
This is now looking more likely. Some state officials here believe that this new casino would help boost tourism and revenue in the state. Today, we’re going to give an update on this exciting new casino plan.
Another Love & Hip Hop Atlanta. Nail salon owner and social media influencer Lovely Mimi was reportedly arrested at Harrah's Cherokee Valley River Casino in Cherokee County, North Carolina. Phil Murphy ordered all nine of Atlantic City’s casinos to close March 16, just the fifth time the gambling houses had been shut in the 42-year history of legalized gambling in.
Let’s get into it!
There’s Only One Month Left of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series
NASCAR remains one of the most popular sports around the US. Back in March, news broke that this stock car racing league was officially shutting down. It was disappointing news, as the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series was already well underway.
Finally, in May, NASCAR resumed its operations. It was exciting news for the millions of fans around the world. There are some major changes set in place during this season, yet it’s managed to go on without any major issues.
There’s now only one month left in the Cup Series. We’re currently in round 12 of the Cup Championship. Things are extremely competitive right now heading into the Bank of America Roval 400. Many are now flocking to different betting sites to place their bets on the season’s winner.
Bovada, one of the best online sportsbooks in the US, is offering odds on which driver manages to win the 2020 Drivers Championship. At the moment, Kevin Harvick is listed as the betting favorite to win at +175. Denny Hamlin is listed next at +225. Want to go with an underdog? Consider a bet on Joey Logano with odds of +1200.
It’s been a fascinating Cup Series this year. The final race of the season is set to take place on November 8th. Now, many are interested in whether or not the Atlanta Motor Speedway will receive a major upgrade next year.
Here’s what we know about this situation.
More Details On the Casino at Atlanta Motor Speedway Are Coming Out
Prior to 2020, the US casino industry was thriving. Gambling destinations around the country saw massive revenue earnings and new casinos were quickly being constructed. This year, however, the casino industry has taken a massive hit.
At the start of 2020, plans were unveiled to open a new casino at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was a major surprise for many to hear. Georgia is known for having extremely harsh laws towards the gambling industry and lawmakers have pushed against opening a real casino.
Many now feel this casino would help to benefit the state. The current plan is to construct it directly next to the race track. Speedway Motorsports president and CEO Marcus Smith claims he’s working to obtain a license for this new gambling venue.
“That is a big hope for us,” Smith said. “We’re working in the state of Georgia on the gaming license opportunity, and it’s of course taking longer than we would like and a lot of other people that have been working on it, but we’re hopeful for that. We also think that Atlanta Motor Speedway is a fantastic racetrack, and the drivers and fans have always given it high reviews. So we are optimistic about NASCAR at Atlanta and the Atlanta market.”
This is far from a done deal, though. This casino will need to be approved from the various state government bodies. This will be much easier said than done, yet it seems that many state leaders are getting on-board with the idea.
Will Georgia ever legalize sports betting?
Georgia’s Sports Betting Plans, Explained
Back in May of 2018, the Supreme Court decided to strike down PASPA. It was a monumental decision for the country’s gambling industry. With this law gone, each state could set its own regulations towards sports gambling.
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Today, 24 states have officially legalized sports gambling. Most of these states are earning a huge amount of revenue from this industry. Over in Georgia, gambling proponents have been working hard to finally get the state’s sports betting industry up and running.
There have been a few sports betting bills presented here over the past few years. This past September, the Senate Special Judiciary Committee voted to push the state’s new sports gambling bill to the State Senate. It’s exciting news for sports fans.
It’s unclear whether or not this will make its way through the legislative process, though. Georgia’s House and Senate will need to approve the bill. Then, it will need to gain approval from Governor Kemp.
There’s a lot going on here. Soon, we could see a new casino at Atlanta Motor Speedway. There’s also a chance that legal, regulated sports betting could come to Georgia sometime soon. We’ll continue offering updates on this situation over the next few weeks.
Do you think a casino should open at the Atlanta Speedway? Let us know in the comments section below!
As Atlanta Motor Speedway returns to two annual stops on the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021, the race expansion is tied into an ambitious future for the track that includes a repave and “reprofiling” of its 1.54-mile surface.
Speedway Motorsports president and CEO Marcus Smith said the plan remains to attract a $1 billion casino and entertainment complexthat would be built adjacent to the track located in Hampton, Georgia, about 40 minutes south of downtown Atlanta.
“That is a big hope for us,” Speedway Motorsports president and CEO Marcus Smith told NBC Sports in a Thursday interview. “We’re working in the state of Georgia on the gaming license opportunity, and it’s of course taking longer than we would like and a lot of other people that have been working on it, but we’re hopeful for that.
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“We also think that Atlanta Motor Speedway is a fantastic racetrack, and the drivers and fans have always given it high reviews. So we are optimistic about NASCAR at Atlanta and the Atlanta market. Then, of course, we also are going to be doing a repave of Atlanta coming up soon. So having two races there is something we feel like is the right move for us as a company, and I think that we’re optimistic and pretty excited about what the repave and reprofile is going to be like in Atlanta. And I think fans will enjoy seeing NASCAR there twice a year.”
Before its 1997 repaving and reconfiguration into a “quad-oval” layout similar to Charlotte Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, Atlanta had a more traditional oval shape a la Homestead-Miami Speedway.
I’ll run the excavator free of charge
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) February 26, 2018
NASCAR on NBC analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. and others have lobbied to return Atlanta to its original oval layout.
Since Homestead (which originally was created as a 1.5-mile version of Indianapolis Motor Speedway) was redesigned and repaved with progressive banking in 2003, the South Florida track largely has been regarded as a gold standard for intermediate track racing in NASCAR.
There has been Twitter buzz that some of AMS’ casino complex renderings indicate a return to its former layout (without swapping the front and back straightaways as in the original configuration).
Wait….. I hadn't noticed the track before in this for some reason…. 😳 pic.twitter.com/0x1D8pMu6v
— Alex Ripstein (@AxelRipper) October 2, 2020
There also is speculation about whether a repave could include reconfiguring Atlanta as a new NASCAR short track (as has been proposed for 2-mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California).
Smith said Atlanta “probably still will be a mile and a half,” but is hinting that an upcoming repave also would include the “reprofiling” of its layout after vetting some proposed changes with iRacing (which also was done with Fontana and a similar type of modeling occurred with Homestead in 2003).
“We’re definitely going to make some pretty cool improvements,” Smith said. “We’re going to be making an announcement about that. We have our ideas together, and now we’re doing some testing of those ideas working with iRacing on modeling and that sort of thing. When we’re done and ready to tell the story properly, I think people will be really excited about it.”