Efforts to legalize sports betting in Texas are facing substantial hurdles, largely due to increased lobbying and campaign contributions aimed at legalizing casinos in the state. These actions have galvanized anti-gaming forces in Texas, reducing the likelihood that sports betting will be legalized in the near future.
According to a recent report by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, a Southern California advisory firm specializing in sports betting analysis, Texas has been removed from the list of states likely to legalize sports betting by 2025. The firm attributes this decision to the intensifying opposition to gambling in Texas, driven primarily by efforts from Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Las Vegas Sands has invested millions of dollars over the past decade in failed attempts to legalize casinos in Texas. The company is once again leading a push for a casino bill as the state approaches its biennial legislative session. Despite these efforts, opposition to gambling in the state has only strengthened, creating significant obstacles for the legalization of sports betting.
The Texas Tribune reported in May that Miriam Adelson, who controls 53 percent of Las Vegas Sands, contributed $9 million to the Texas Defense Fund, a political action committee that supported Republican incumbents in the Texas House during the primary elections. In addition to this political involvement, Adelson spent $3.5 billion in December to acquire a 73 percent stake in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. The team, which recently lost to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, is expected to advocate for a new arena in Dallas, potentially tied to a future hotel-casino resort operated by Las Vegas Sands.
Mark Cuban, co-owner of the Mavericks who retained a 27 percent stake in the team, emphasized the importance of the casino aspect of the project. Speaking at a sports economics forum in Dallas, Cuban stated, “The 10 percent of the people who gamble pay for everything else,” highlighting the financial viability of integrating a casino into the project.
Andy Abboud, Senior Vice President of Sands, also spoke at a recent event hosted by the North Texas Commission, a public-private partnership that includes Dallas-area businesses and local governments. Abboud briefed business leaders on the potential benefits of destination gaming, with the commission forming an exploratory committee to examine the issue further.
However, these initiatives have only intensified opposition from Texas’ anti-gaming faction, which is predominantly led by Republicans in the Texas State Senate. Chris Krafcik, an analyst from Eilers & Krejcik, noted that while the Texas House passed an online sports betting bill in 2023—backed by major sports betting companies, a coalition of Texas’ professional sports teams, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry—it was ultimately blocked in the Senate. This development supports Krafcik’s view that “the Senate is the chamber that matters, and things there are not moving in the right direction.”
Krafcik also pointed out that the Texas Republican Party has explicitly instructed lawmakers to oppose any form of gambling expansion, as well as any budget proposals that include revenue from legalized gambling. He highlighted the party’s firm stance against gambling, noting that “[the party’s platform]
even explicitly addresses the warmer reception gambling expansion has had in the House.”
Given these challenges, Krafcik now believes that Texas may not legalize sports betting until at least 2027, with the earliest possible launch coinciding with the NFL season opener in the fall of 2028.
Source:
“Indy Gaming: Why Texas is, for now, not likely to legalize sports betting”, thenevadaindependent.com, August 21, 2024.