Two Brand-New Betting Bills Proposed In Texas

If you’ve read this website before, you will know that the state of Texas is the elephant in the room in regard to the legalized betting market. This applies to both casino and sports betting, by the way. With the state’s population and economy, the gambling industry is dreaming of the potential of anything being legalized in Texas (and California sports betting too).

The dreams are especially vivid right now because we’re in the midst of a Texas legislative session — one that only comes around every two years. Texas is in the unique position of only meeting once every two years to pass new legislation. Welp, 2025 is one of those years.

There’s already been some movement on the legal betting side of things. Not one, but two different bills have been proposed — not accepted or passed — that would legalize some form of gambling in the Lone Star State. Let’s take you into both proposals and how they might fare.

Details On The House Bills Proposed

Right now, the House is taking the lead on legalized betting — not the Senate. That’s not a surprise, as we’ll get into, but let’s first cover what they’ve proposed. Here’s what the House has proposed so far in 2025:

• House Joint Resolution 134, filed by Rep. Sam Harless, would allow lawmakers to authorize and regulate sports betting in Texas. This would enable existing sports teams, race tracks, or sanctioned professional golf tournaments to develop sports wagering operations.
• House Joint Resolution 137, introduced by Rep. Charlie Geren, would give the Legislature the power to authorize and strictly oversee both casino gaming and sports betting. The proposal limits the number of new casinos to 10, with future lawmakers responsible for deciding their locations.

The House leading the way is not a surprise because in 2023 — during the last legislative session — they passed a sports betting bill 100-43. It eventually died in the Senate, but passing was notable because no other bill around betting had ever gone as far as passing in the House. For the moment, these new bills are only proposals — not passes (yet).

But let’s be real, do any of these bills have a shot at not just passing the House, but also the Texas Senate? It’s a longshot, which we’ll get into next.

Strong Influences Are Still Against Legalized Betting

There are still strong, strong forces against any kind of betting in Texas. Opponents include Christian conservatives, who remain a powerful faction within the Republican Party. But heck, the GOP party as a whole, is against it — not just the Christians. The GOP platform inside the state outright says on its platform about being against “any expansion of gambling, including legalized casino gambling.”

The Senate, which is dominated by these same GOP members, remains a roadblock. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — who is the de-facto leader of the Senate — has stated that there still isn’t enough Republican support to move gambling bills forward. That’s remained the case now a month into the new legislature as betting supporters have yet to find a Republican senator willing to sponsor legislation related to casino gaming or sports betting.

Plus, the House might not be as receptive to gambling as it was two years ago. In the House, Republican support has slipped in the two years since. Many of the 26 Republican newcomers — who defeated two Democrats and replaced 24 Republicans — actively oppose gambling (per their platform) or are focused on other issues.

All this is to say, where is betting support going to come from in either the House or the Senate? It certainly doesn’t seem like either would be even close to getting majority support. And this is despite the state Governor Greg Abbott saying he’s neutral on legalized betting. Abbott’s position is seemingly more in tune with regular Texas, as we explain next.

Public Support For Betting Is Turning In Texas

Betting legislation in Texas last happened about 40 years ago. First, in 1987 when state voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing for legal horse race wagering, and again in 1991, when the state lottery was legalized. But if recent data is to be believed, they are actually ready for more despite their lawmakers being more hesitant.

The University of Houston led a shocking poll on the issue of betting. Results posted in January revealed that 73 percent of Texas adults back the idea of legalizing destination resort casinos. Notably, this support spans party lines, with 74 percent of Democrats and 72 percent of Republicans in favor.

The same poll found that 60 percent of Texans approve of legalizing online sports betting, including 64 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of Republicans. Additionally, 56 percent support allowing sportsbooks to operate within the stadiums and arenas of Texas professional sports teams — a development that could see venues like AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, and Globe Life Field, where the Texas Rangers play, become hubs for sports wagering.

However, the latter idea is really the hope of Miriam Adelson — the new owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Aside from trading away franchise player Luka Doncic, she’s been campaigning for a resort casino that would also house the team’s new arena. That campaign appears to be falling short given what we’ve detailed in this article, at least for now.