Patrick, who controls which bills get a vote in the Senate, has repeatedly stated that sports betting lacks sufficient Republican support. In 2023, the House barely cleared the two-thirds majority needed, but the political landscape has since shifted. With 26 new Republican lawmakers in the House, many of whom oppose gambling, that threshold may be even harder to reach this time around.
Rep. Matt Shaheen has been vocal about ensuring the latest push fails.
“I have a whole coalition of organizations, and we’re going to make sure it’s dead, that it’s six feet under … it won’t pass the House,”
Shaheen told the Dallas Morning News.
Despite this resistance, momentum continues to build. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently expressed his openness to online sports betting, acknowledging that many Texans already engage in the activity through unregulated means.
“I don’t have a problem with online sports betting,”
Abbott said on the Texas Take podcast.
“The reality is I’d be shocked if there were not some Texans that already do it.”
Big Players Line Up in Support
Texas’ 12 professional sports teams, including the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Rockets, have voiced strong support for legalization. The Texas Sports Betting Alliance, which represents major sportsbooks such as DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and Fanatics Sportsbook, has been lobbying to bring regulated sports betting to the state.
Dallas Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson, who has funneled millions into pro-gambling efforts, remains a significant financial backer of legalization. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Secretary of State John Scott have also thrown their weight behind the cause. A recent University of Houston poll found that 60% of Texans support online sports betting, and 73% back the development of destination casinos.
Despite these endorsements, Patrick remains the key roadblock.
“The gambling industry has not been able to adequately convince the lieutenant governor that the benefits of gambling outweigh the societal costs,”
said Mark Jones, a political scientist at Rice University.
The opposition isn’t just ideological; the state’s recent crackdown on Texas lottery courier services like DraftKings-owned Jackpocket highlights broader regulatory concerns. The Texas Lottery Commission ruled that courier services are unregulated operators, and Patrick took credit for exposing them. This development signals that any attempt to expand gambling in the state will face rigorous scrutiny.
With a potential 2026 launch date if a bill were to pass, Texas still has a long road ahead. Supporters are pushing for lawmakers to at least give voters a say.
“At the end of the day, that’s what we’re asking: to let Texans vote on this,”
said Texas Sports Betting Alliance spokesperson Karina Kling. But as long as Patrick holds the gavel, that vote remains far from certain.
