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While progress has been made in recent years towards gaming expansion in Texas, the path to legalization of casino gaming or sports betting remains daunting due to the state’s political climate and steep requirements to enact legislation.
Bills to authorize land-based casinos or sports betting have been a constant feature of past legislative sessions, with material progress made especially on the latter front during the last biennial session of 2023.
Although no bills have been able to clear the hurdles posed by the state’s Senate, the discussions have left some expert observers encouraged for when lawmakers reconvene early next year.
“I anticipate the 2025 session will build on the momentum and progress of the 2021 and 2023 legislative sessions,” said David Rittvo, principal with Tailored Hospitality Advisors in Austin.
Brendan Bussmann, managing partner with Las Vegas-based B Global Advisors, described Texas as the “crown jewel for expansion opportunities in the United States”.
“However, we are still likely to wait until 2027 to see movement on both destination resorts and sports betting,” Bussmann told Vixio GamblingCompliance.
When lawmakers return to the Capitol in Austin in January, the main obstacle for both casinos and sports betting is again expected to be securing enough support in the Senate.
Both Republican Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who also serves as the Senate President, have historically opposed expanded gambling, although industry advocates are hopeful that neither will be immovable opponents.
Abbott has signaled that he could support casino legislation that includes strict regulations and allows only a few destination resorts, while lobbyists believe Patrick would allow for a vote to be held in the Senate if a proposal gets majority support from at least ten of the Senate’s 19 Republicans senators.
Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan supported legalization of integrated-resort casinos at the beginning of the 88th Legislative Session in January 2023.
A bill to authorize up to eight casinos was later provisionally approved in the House by a majority vote of 63-49, but further action was shelved as an accompanying state constitutional amendment would require a higher majority of at least two-thirds support.
The House did pass a bill and constitutional amendment in 2023 to legalize online sports betting in Texas, only to see the measure then fail to garner enough support in the Senate.
“Gaming made progress in 2023 with the passage of sports betting in the House and just a couple of votes shy for casinos, but you still had a roadblock in the Senate,” Bussmann said. “While we will have to see how much of a shift there may be in the makeup of both [chambers], we likely may see the same result in 2025.”
Las Vegas Sands, Dallas Cowboys Support Gaming
Over the last few years, support for legalizing casinos and sports betting among the Dallas and wider Texas business community has increased due to the advocacy efforts and millions of dollars spent by Las Vegas Sands trying to soften opposition in the Republican-controlled state house.
Since the 2023 session adjourned, Sands lobbyists have continued to make their case at a state-wide series of roundtable discussions arranged by the Texas Association of Business to build momentum for another run when the legislature reconvenes on January 14.
Executives with Sands have also since expanded their presence in Texas significantly with the $3.5bn purchase earlier this year of a majority stake in the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks and more than 100 acres in Irving, near the former Texas Stadium, the one-time home of the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys.
The stadium site is large enough to build a destination-resort casino should Texas legalize casino gaming.
According to media reports, Sands has spent at least $100m in recent years on lobbying activities and political contributions to legalize casinos in Texas. The company is also the main financial backer of the political action committee (PAC) known as the Texas Destination Resort Alliance.
The North Texas Commission (NTC), a business advocacy group in Irving, recently formed a committee of business leaders to assess issues related to casinos. The committee has held several meetings since July to determine how gaming would benefit the state, with a particular focus on the Dallas-Fort Worth region.
Andrea Coker, an NTC spokeswoman, told Vixio the group supports a constitutional amendment to allow voters to decide the issue of casino gaming. A two-thirds approval would be required in both chambers of the legislature before the issue would be put on a ballot, with only a simple majority of voters then required.
Several high-profile Texas figures have thrown their support for casino gaming and sports betting, including former Republican Governor Rick Perry, Mark Cuban, the famous entrepreneur and minority owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and Dallas Cowboys-co-owner Jerry Jones.
Charlotte Jones, co-owner and chief brand officer of the Cowboys, recently expressed her support for legalizing sports betting in Texas.
In an interview with CBS News Texas, Jones spoke of the need to legalize sports betting to provide new tax revenue to the state and to disrupt black-market operators targeting underage individuals.
“We’re hoping to get back in there and really bring it to voters,” Jones said. “It’s our decision as Texans to decide how our state is regulated. In this case, when we’re usually against regulation, this is about the safety of our kids, the safety of our teenagers, and this is why we need this regulation now.”
Despite the high-profile support for legalizing casinos and sports betting, there is enough evidence to indicate that expanded gambling’s chances of passage in the 2025 session remain slim.
The Republican Party of Texas’ 2024 policy platform opposes any expansion of gambling, including casinos and sports betting.
“We oppose any expansion of gambling, including legalized casino gambling,” the party platform reads. “We oppose and call for a veto of any budget that relies on expansion of legalized casino gambling of any type or size, whether as a standalone business or partnered with any other business or resort, as a method of finance.”
The state's Republican party also called on all Republican legislators to decline campaign contributions from gambling political action committees (PACs) and lobbyists, but did not specifically mention Las Vegas Sands or Miriam Adelson, the company’s largest shareholder who donated $100m to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and is now the majority owner of the Mavericks.
John Pitts, founder and chairman of Austin-based lobbying firm Texas Star Alliance, agreed that Patrick and Abbott were the main roadblocks to getting any gaming bill through the state legislature, but he believes if they were not running for re-election, then they would allow it.
“They perceive that their bases oppose [gambling],” Pitts told Vixio. “I do not believe that is correct. I do believe if there is large support of Republicans in the Senate, Patrick would consider bringing it to the floor.”
Currently, pari-mutuel wagering on greyhound and horse races is regulated in Texas, along with a state lottery, sweepstakes with prizes under $50,000, and charitable gaming that is regulated by the bingo division of the state lottery commission.
Texas also has three federally-recognized tribes that operate Class II gaming facilities that include bingo and non-banked card games. Online gambling, casinos, cardrooms, gaming machines, sports betting and fantasy sports remain prohibited, according to state law.
