Although the Texas legislature’s 2021 session ended without the lawmakers even looking at sports betting, the Lone Star State’s professional sports teams are not giving up trying to get action.
An association that represents the pro teams, the Sports Betting Alliance, has called for the legislature to pass sports betting legislation to keep money in the state. They are aiming at the next legislative session in 2023.
Alliance members include Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars, Dallas Mavericks, FC Dallas, Texas Rangers and Texas Motor Speedway. Their spokesman, Cara Gustafson said last week, “It’s really just a matter of creating a groundwork and a framework for something that’s already happening.”
She added, “We’re really proud of the conversation we did start, and we think that it’s laid a really good groundwork to looking in the future. It’s clear based on feedback from lawmakers that the required voting threshold is there to pass sports betting in 2023.”
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones last July told a radio talk show, “I certainly know that gambling as it pertains to our games is here. Frankly, it’s been here. The handwriting’s on the wall. Gambling has been here a long time.”
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “Texas is a state that deeply believes in free Enterprise and consumer choice rather than the state dictating what Texans can or can’t do.”
He said the state needs resort casinos like in Las Vegas to provide “world class vacation and business destinations.”
Texas Rangers COO Neil Lebman said sports betting is already happening and that the state should collect revenue from it. “From the Ranger’s perspective, we look at it as it’s over $5 billion wagered illegally today in Texas on sports, and we think that while it’s going to happen—it is happening—we should license it, regulate it and benefit from it.”
