On Tuesday, FanDuel announced that it will invest $15 million and hire 900 people in metro Atlanta ahead of potential Georgia legalization of online sports betting. The project reportedly will come to fruition over five years, though it is unclear when the project will begin.
The move was championed by Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, on Tuesday.
I’m proud to welcome FanDuel to the #1 State for Business! This will create good-paying jobs for many hardworking Georgians.https://t.co/EV4LAWTyz9
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) May 18, 2021
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, FanDuel is planning a 68,000-square-foot technology campus in Midtown. The new jobs will be “focused on software engineering, product development, information technology and program design,” the report said.
It is unknown if FanDuel is receiving any tax incentives to open the tech campus.
Kemp said FanDuel’s plan “is a testament to our world-class universities and tech training programs, as well as the diverse ecosystem of professional sports leagues and teams we’ve cultivated here.”
FanDuel’s decision comes despite Major League Baseball recently opting to move its All-Star Game out of the state due to what are widely considered anti-Black voter suppression moves by the Republican-controlled legislature. Georgia emerged as a key swing state in the 2020 election.
The New York-based FanDuel will look to hire local tech graduates for its openings, the report said.
The backing from Kemp came the same day he announced in a statement that he will seek re-election in 2022, though it’s unclear if the two announcements are connected for any reason.
Passing a plan to allow voters to approve sports betting seemed like it was gaining traction in recent months, before anti-Black voting rights chaos in the legislature was credited with derailing the process to bring legal and regulated sportsbook apps to the state.
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