Texas sports betting

The current status of Texas sports betting legislation

The Texas state legislature uses a biennial scheduling model. Under state statutes, the Texas House of Representatives and the Senate convene to address their business every two years. These sessions begin on the second Tuesday of January in odd-numbered years.

This means that the next Texas legislative session will begin on January 14, 2025, and it will be the 89th Legislative Session.

The 88th Session began on January 10, 2023, and it concluded on May 29, 2023. It was an eventful session from a sports betting legalization perspective.

Texas House Bill 1942

Texas House Bill 1942 (HB1942) was filed on February 2, 2023. It was a bipartisan bill that would allow for a constitutional amendment that would enable sports betting legislation.

Patrick Svitek is The Texas Tribune’s primary political correspondent, and he closely followed this legislative drama as it reached its conclusion in May. Shortly after the bill’s third reading on May 11, Svitek shared the news on Twitter:

#HB1942, the enabling legislation for the sports-betting constitutional amendment, gets final approval in the House, 82-51 #txlege

— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) May 11, 2023

Texas House Joint Resolution 102

HB1942 would have established a constitutional amendment to enable legal sports betting, but that was just half the battle.

Voter approval is required as well, and Texas House Joint Resolution 102 (HJR102) would have let the voters decide in November 2023. It passed by a 101-42 margin.

Enter Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick

Upon passage in the House, the bills could be moved along to the Senate for a vote. Longtime observers indicated that it would be a far tougher sell in the Senate, but the bills never made it out of the House.

In the midst of a wave of optimism surrounding the matter because of the strong House support, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick squashed the momentum:

I’ve said repeatedly there is little to no support for expanding gaming from Senate GOP. I polled members this week. Nothing changed. The senate must focus on issues voters expect us to pass. We don’t waste time on bills without overwhelming GOP support. HB1942 won’t be referred.…

— Office of the Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (@LtGovTX) May 13, 2023

Public opinion

Since the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018, 33 states have legalized the activity, and sports betting is legal in the District of Columbia.

For now, Texans are on the outside looking in, and most of them are not happy about it. The Hoppy School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston released the results of a relevant survey on January 26, 2023. It found that 75% of Texans approve of a constitutional referendum that would give the voters the power to decide on sports betting legalization.

A recent poll conducted by Betting TX has revealed a significant inclination toward legalizing sports betting in Texas. The poll found that 67.39% of registered voters in Texas were in favor of the move.

Clearly, the public is hungry for sports gaming, and there are some powerful forces making an ongoing push to satisfy their cravings.

Bonuses & promotions on TX betting sites

Like other states in the US, TX betting sites will offer various bonuses and promotions for bettors to enjoy. These are common Texas sportsbook promos players will likely find once sports betting goes live:

Professional sports teams to wager on using TX sportsbooks

Sports fans and bettors alike are curious about the best professional sports teams in Texas to wager on using Texas sportsbooks. Here are some of the most promising teams:

Next steps for legal sports betting in Texas

The push toward the legalization of sports betting in Texas will continue between now and the commencement of the next legislative session in January 2025.

In spite of the setback, this is not a gloom and doom outcome because powerful forces are still hard at work.

Patrick’s statement on sports betting

In his tweet that put the kibosh on sports betting, Lt. Gov. Patrick emphasized the fact that there was insufficient GOP support in the Senate.

But in the House, 46 Republicans voted for House Joint Resolution 102, with 36 caucus members voting against it. Clearly, there is significant support within the party despite Patrick’s sweepingly dismissive remarks.

Texas online casinos gain momentum

The late Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson had been described as a “GOP kingmaker” because of his outsized political influence. His widow, Miriam Adelson, has assumed that mantle with her $36 billion fortune in tow.

In addition to the sports betting bills that were considered in 2023, there was a full-blown commercial casino legalization bill that ultimately stalled in the House.

Adelson was a major advocate, and she has funneled over $2 million into Texas political campaigns through the Las Vegas Sands Corporation political action committee in 2023 according to Bloomberg.

Adelson has thrown her support behind Governor Greg Abbott. She reportedly made a seven-figure donation to his campaign, and she viewed his inauguration from a front-row seat.

According to reports, he has asserted that he is open-minded about Texas online casinos. And he has also suggested that he may be willing to sign a legal sports betting bill if one lands on this desk:

“It’s really just a form of entertainment,” Abbott said in a USA Today Network interview. “And so it depends on how it’s constructed. And we’ll see how far it can advance in the House and Senate.”

The Texas Sports Betting Alliance

Former Texas Governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry is one of the most prominent Republican political voices in the state.

He is the spokesman for the Texas Sports Betting Alliance (TSBA), and this is what he had to say after the House legalization bills were not considered by the Senate:

“We know that Texans want the freedom and liberty that our great state is known for, to participate in sports betting legally and safely. We listened to the people and put forth legislation that would combat the $6 billion illegal market with common sense regulation and protect Texans without growing the size and scope of government. Texans deserve the chance to vote on legalizing sports betting and we will continue working to put this initiative on the ballot in 2025.”

This Alliance is comprised of the most influential entities in the Texas sports community led by the Dallas Cowboys and the other professional sports franchises.

When you add in Texas Motor Speedway and the PGA Tour along with the major sports betting companies, you see a unified voice that will be making itself heard.

Potential economic impact

Most people in the state want to be able to bet on sports, and as we have pointed out, there is significant support among legislators.

Those who are holding out may want to take a longer look at the potential economic impact that sports gambling would have on the state of Texas.

Let’s look at the context. New York is the most populous state with legal sports betting with a population of about 20 million. There are approximately 30 million people in Texas. The total sports betting handle in New York in 2022, which was the first year of legalization, was $16.2 billion.

On January 13, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the state collected $709.2 million in sports betting tax revenue in 2022. In addition to the tax dollars, the state’s coffers swelled by another $200 million via licensing fees, so the impact has been profound.

When you consider the fact that New York is two-thirds the size of Texas in terms of population, the numbers would logically be much higher in the Lone Star State.

Plus, to quote the El Paso Times, “Football is like a religion in Texas.” In New York, not so much. Since football is the most popular sport for betting by a wide margin, the Texas football handle would be enormous.

Illegal sports betting in Texas

The ongoing prohibition on sports betting in Texas is not stopping people from placing wagers. According to the Texas Sports Betting Alliance, over $6 billion is being bet illegally in Texas each year. They cite research that has been done by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG).

In fairness, the report emphasized the high level of uncertainty that envelops this type of study because illegal sports betting is done in the shadows.

Still, even if the actual number is lower than $6 billion, the point is made – plenty of people are making illegal sports bets in Texas each and every day.

Texas misses out on revenue as residents head to Louisiana

Texas shares a rather large border with Louisiana, and there is legal sports betting in Louisiana. Gaming industry insiders in that state report significant money coming in from Texans that cross the border to place legal sports bets.

In fact, there was a very notable example of this phenomenon in February 2022. Jim McIngvale is a decent furniture store owner that is known in gambling circles as “Mattress Mack.” He traveled to Louisiana to place a $5 million bet on the Bengals to beat the Rams in Super Bowl LVI.

Countless Texans visit Las Vegas during football season for a reason, and there is legal sports betting in Kansas, Colorado, and Arizona. How long will Texas force its residents to place their wagers elsewhere?

Conclusion

To sum it up, a significant majority of Texans want to be able to bet on sports. The pursuit of personal liberty is traditionally intertwined into the fabric of Texas culture. Many believe that individuals should have the freedom to do what they want to do with their money.

There is support on that level, and as we have pointed out, some heavy lobbying is underway. A great deal of give-and-take was necessary to broker terms that would gain majority support in the House.

Lawmakers on all sides of the issue have considered arguments that have been made by lobbyists, and they understand one another’s concerns. At this point, they probably know what it will take to reach a compromise that will result in majority support in both chambers.

We will continue to closely monitor the pursuit of sports betting legalization in Texas, and we will share updates on this page as they become available.