The Sands Not Deterred By Texas Betting Defeat

This was supposed to be the year that Texas legalized betting for casinos. At least, that’s what Las Vegas Sands believed.

You see, this was the first Texas legislative year for Miriam Adelson — whose stake in The Sands has made her one of the richest women in the world — since buying the Dallas Mavericks. Marc Cuban sold most of his equity of the team to Adelson at the tail-end of 2023, and Texas lawmakers didn’t meet in 2024.

But alas, Adelson’s hopes were dashed this year. Not only did no legalization happen, it actually appears things went backwards on the issue. Not to be deterred, The Sands remains hopeful and now has their eyes set on 2027 for legalization. Keep reading and we’ll get you up to speed with their line of thinking.

Two Betting Proposals Went Nowhere

Not one, but two different proposals were kicked around to legalize betting. At a quick glance, here’s the proposals:

• House Joint Resolution 134: aimed to legalize sports betting by handing regulation power to lawmakers. Under the plan, only existing pro sports teams, racetracks, or approved pro golf events could run sportsbooks — keeping it tightly tied to big-name operators already in Texas.
• House Joint Resolution 137: this resolution would’ve gone further, opening the door for full-blown casino gambling alongside sports betting. The plan capped new casinos at 10 total, with future legislatures responsible for deciding where they’d be allowed to operate.

Ambitious bills, right? Eh, not really. Las Vegas Sands had previously mentioned building eight resort casinos throughout Texas — a drastic move for such a conservative state. That was never put into a bill, but still, the pared-down House bills went next to nowhere. Neither went to the Senate, unlike 2023, when the House actually approved a legal sports betting bill.

The reason? Well, the House has changed drastically since 2023. There are 26 new Republicans, and nearly all are against the legalization of gambling. This is in line with the state’s platform, which openly states its opposition to betting. The newbies are just following suit.

The Sands Still Has Faith (Or So They Say)

At least publicly, The Sands is staying optimistic. They are saying all the right things out loud.

“We’re happy with the progress we made this session,” said Andy Abboud, senior vice president at Sands. “We have always said this will be a marathon, and we still strongly believe that destination resorts coming to Texas is inevitable, which is why we’re not going anywhere.”

A similar tune is being sung by the Texas Sports Betting Alliance — a group backed by pro sports franchises across the state. Besides Adelson, the most famous owner in the state, Jerry Jones, has supported sports betting. Anywho, that group said the following:

“We’re disappointed Texans didn’t get the chance to vote to legalize sports betting this year, but we know it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” said Karina Kling, a spokesperson for the Sports Betting Alliance. “The fact is, Texans are already doing this, but through illegal, offshore operators. We’ll keep working to educate people on how legalizing sports betting in Texas would protect consumers and bring financial benefits to the state.”

Notice how both used the line “marathon not a sprint”? We suppose that’s correct, but you have to acknowledge how badly the marathon has started for pro-legalization camps. The legislative defeats this year came in spite of Adelson forking over $14 million to Texas politicians bia political action committees. For now, her riches did little to win over support.

Gambling Is A Touchy Subject In Texas Right Now

Texas was already anti-betting to begin with. However, that was dialed up a notch this year for reasons not related to The Sand.

Texas does have a legalized lottery system. However, it got “gamed” for $95 million and a lot of bad publicity. We’ve written about it before, but there was an overseas group that scooped up over 25 million $1 tickets, covering nearly every number combination to guarantee a win. As it turns out, the group didn’t actually break any rules, they just exploited the Texas Lottery’s faulty setup and one unlucky betting app.

But… that was not the lottery’s only mess-up. Another $83.5 million was won under questionable circumstances in February. An investigation is on, but it’s being alleged it was won under illegal practices. The Lottery Commission has refused to pay out so far.

All this has led lawmakers in the state to be extra hostile towards any and all forms of betting. There was even a bill that goat floated to make lottery betting illegal. It too didn’t pass, but hey, it’s the thought that counts, right?

All this is to say, the 2025 legislative session was the perfect storm against legalized betting in Texas. It was never going to pass, not with the lottery dark cloud hanging and a new freshman class of lawmakers eager to toe the party lines. But still… just how bad things went this year has to be a wake-up call for pro-betting groups. They’ll need a serious switch-up in strategy to build some momentum for 2027, the next time lawmakers will meet.