Texas Sports Betting Effort Runs Out Of Steam

The Texas Senate failed to advance a sports betting referendum before the legislature adjourned, ending the Lone Star State’s latest efforts to legalize sports betting. 

The good news is the House of Representatives passed a sports betting bill.

The bad news is the bill was a sports betting referendum, putting the issue before the voters and not a nuts and bolts piece of legislation. HJR 102 proposed “a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to legalize wagering in this state on certain sporting events and requiring the legislature to dedicate to property tax relief at least 98 percent of the net state tax revenue generated from the wagering on sporting events.”

The worse news is the Texas legislature meets every two years, which means sports betting in Texas will remain out of reach until at least 2025.

The Texas House of Representatives passed the bill, but it was declared dead on arrival in the Senate following comments by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has the final say on what bills can advance to the Senate floor for a vote. 

“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…”

The Difficulties of Legal Sports Betting in Texas

There are several complicating factors in Texas. 

• Texas is historically one of the most anti-gambling states in the country.
• The legislature is exploring several gambling expansions simultaneously, including resort casinos.
• There were three competing sports betting efforts – a referendum, a retail betting component attached to a casino bill, and a standalone sports betting bill.

The 2025 Texas legislature won’t start from square one or pick up where it left off. As with every state legislature, turnover and new issues will either complicate or pull attention away from sports betting.

Gambling in Texas is a complicated matter, and restarting every two years means new lawmakers will need to be educated, which will be all the more difficult when there are multiple types of gambling expansions on the table and multiple pathways to legal sports betting. 

The legislature might not go down the referendum route, making passage in the House far more difficult given the state’s anti-gambling tendencies. Considering the referendum passed by the slimmest of margins, that doesn’t bode well for future efforts. 

And, of course, efforts to legalize resort casinos in Texas aren’t going to disappear, and casinos could drown out mobile sports betting. 

Destination Casinos are Priority No. 1

According to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who supports sports betting and casinos, the latter is the far more exciting prospect.

“People want more reasons to come to the state,” Cuban told the Dallas Morning News. “More reasons to come to Dallas. Gambling may help pay for the operations of a destination resort, but it’s the next level experiences that will change tourism for the state and could make us the number 1 tourism destination in the country.”

And Cuban isn’t the only high-profile entity fighting for resort casinos in the state. Las Vegas Sands has had its eyes on Texas for several years and has hired a gaggle of lobbyists to make it a reality.

“We have always understood what it would take to get this legislation across the finish line, and the vote taken reinforces how close we are to making our vision a reality,” Andy Abboud, senior vice president of government relations at Las Vegas Sands, told the Dallas Morning Press. “We continue to strongly believe that Texans want to decide and vote on this issue, and we look forward to giving them that opportunity in the near future.”

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Upshot to Possible Texas Sports Betting 

The Texas House passed a bill that would place a referendum on the ballot to legalize sports betting. 

The vote is historical, but it will be another complex lift when the legislature reconsiders sports betting in two years.