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For the most part, Texas likes to think itself as the “freest” state in the country. And honest, it largely lives up to that, minus one thing — its utter disdain for betting.
No matter how much markets pop up — 39 now that Missouri legalized sports betting — Texas has stood firm against it. Casino betting? Forget about that too.
In doing so, Texas is leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table in yearly taxes. This is crazy to certain business people — sports owners like Jerry Jones and Miriam Adelson — and local lawmakers. Welp, at least the latter of which is doing their part in trying to change things. There’s news out of Texas about a new bill that would legalize sports betting and casino gaming. Keep reading and we’ll tell you all about it.
Democrat Leads New Betting Bill
Texas is known for leaning heavily Republican, but Democrats do have some presence statewide. A state senator by the name of Carol Alvarado is behind the new proposal. In November, Alvarado filed Joint Resolution 16. In its purest form, the proposal wants to add amendment to the state constitution and allow sports AND casino gaming at “destination resorts.”
The proposal mentions adding casinos in seven prime locations across the state. Two would be in the Dallas area, another two in the Houston region, one in the San Antonio metro, one along the coast in Corpus Christi, and one in and around McAllen. This would cover the most populous parts of the state.
Alvarado is also calling for a 15 percent tax rate, which might be too modest. We mean, New York has 51 percent (on sports betting, not casino). Illinois has a sliding scale of 20 to 40 percent depending on the operator. Texas has bigger populations than both and are selling themselves a tad too short, but hey, we digress.
However, the biggest question the proposal raises is this: would betting be exclusively at these destination resorts? Would there be no online component? The proposal doesn’t say anything about online betting or any kind, which indicates this is strictly for physical establishments.
That would likely put a lid on the betting industry, especially when it comes to sports wagering. If you look at legal betting markets across the country, mobile sports apps dominate brick-and-mortar locations in terms of activity. Mobile apps typically get 95 percent of all betting volume.
But if we can read between the lines, Alvarado’s proposal aligns with plans made by others with a little more influence in the state than a local politician. We’ll explain in the next section.
Adelson Still Wants Casino-Arena Hybrid
When Adelson forked over billions to acquire a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban, she did so with one idea in mind: building a new casino and resort alongside an area for the team. It’s an idea that would print billions back to her.
Adelson isn’t going to sit back and hope a lawmaker helps her out though. She’s funneling money directly into their pockets to influence policy. It’s been reported that she’s up to $13.7 million in political donations in the first 10 months of 2024. Most of this has gone to Republicans in the state, but some to Democrats too — and who knows, maybe Alvarado has benefitted from it.
Does Alvarado’s Proposal Stand A Chance In Texas?
Proposals are great, but let’s be serious, does Alvarado’s idea stand a shot in the Lone Star State? Let’s just say this: it would be a longshot. A real long one too.
This is because Alvarado, and the Democratic party in Texas in general, doesn’t have the influence to get an amendment like this one passed. We said it earlier but we’ll say it again: Texas is as red as can be. The Republican party’s support is needed to get anything across the bill and right now, the most powerful conservatives in Texas are against this thing. Don’t just take our word for it though.
“Unless I have 15 to 16 Republicans, meaning it’s a Republican-driven bill because we’re a Republican-driven state, I’m not bringing a bill to the floor,” said lieutenant governor Dan Patrick. “I need Republican consensus otherwise, it’s a Democrat bill.”
This quote is dated from 2023 during the last legislative session in Texas when sports betting measures were being kicked around (one even passed inside a House committee). The words come from Patrick, who essentially leads the Senate. Patrick has proved to be the biggest roadblock to getting legalization going.
Patrick is still in the same position and will be for 2025 when a brand-new session begins. There was some speculation he would join Donald Trump’s cabinet in some position but that’s not happening. Has Patrick changed his tune? We wouldn’t bet on it, pun fully intended. Patrick is 74 years old, and at that age, you are who you are. Remember, he comes from an era where betting was viewed as a “sin.”
If anything, kudos to Alvarado for kick-starting another conversation around betting. That might be the biggest win off this proposal — not actual policy.
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