Atlanta Motor Speedway hopes Georgia's sports betting legislation boosts its casino project

The owner of Atlanta Motor Speedway bets on Georgia casino legislation currently advancing in the Legislature to clear the way for a major development at its property there.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports executives with Atlanta Motor Speedway are hopeful about the possibility of developing a $1 billion casino resort adjacent to the racetrack. This could be possible thanks to a growing possibility that casino gambling will be authorized as legislation related to online sports betting makes its way through the Georgia statehouse, according to the report.

“We’re still alive,” former Atlanta Motor Speedway President Ed Clark, who has spent much of his retirement campaigning to legalize casino gambling in Georgia, told the newspaper. “It’s been very encouraging to see all the activity and movement over the past couple weeks.”

Locally based Speedway Motorsports Inc. owns the Atlanta- and Charlotte-area tracks, as well as six others. The company is already talking with potential partners for the casino project, with CEO Marcus Smith reportedly traveling to Las Vegas to meet and speak with such companies.

Speedway Motorsports owns about 1,000 acres at the track in Concord, including property that could be developed in the future. The company told the Charlotte Business Journal it would be interested in sports betting there if such activity was to be approved by the state. 

The Atlanta speedway is located in Hampton, Georgia, about 35 miles south of the city.