Online Sports Betting Bill Was Officially Presented in Texas

Peter LewisPeter Lewis | March 6, 2023
Online Sports Betting Bill Was Officially Presented in Texas

This feels like it could end up being good news for Texas sports betting and the people who want to see it come to fruition in the near future. For a while now, people have been hoping to see legal sports wagers be permitted in the Lone Star State, but things just haven’t reached the next level. That all could end up changing soon, as a new online sports betting bill was officially presented in Texas for lawmakers and officials to look over.

This feels like a pretty big step for Texas a whole, though there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. According to a report, republican senator Lois Kolkhortst and fellow republican Jeff Leach filed a sports betting bill that would ‘regulate’ mobile sports betting in Texas. There would still be a need for other things to happen for in-person wagers to get across the board as well, but for now, mobile options would be a fantastic start.

“She’s carried many important bills for the lieutenant governor in the Senate, including those where she took a lot of flak for doing so,” betting expert Mark Jones said of Kolkhorst via ABC news. “So the fact she’s filing this bill is a signal the lieutenant governor at least hasn’t shut the door completely on the idea of online sports betting. At the end of the day, if (leuitenant governor Dan) Patrick says he’s in favor of neutral towards the casino, gambling, or online gambling, we’ll see it passed.”

There’s still plenty of hoops that need to be jumped through, but this really does feel like a positive first step. Now, this new bill will need to be cleared by both the house and the Texas senate. If that were to happen, then it would be on Governor Greg Abbott to decide whether or not things would be able to go to a vote. If he does decide in favor of that, then this bill would go on the ballot for next November, which a lot of people are hoping for.

Could 2023 finally be the year for Texas sports betting?

With this latest update, a lot of people are wondering could 2023 finally be the year for Texas sports betting? That’s the hope for a lot of people, and the list also includes pro team owners Mark Cuban, Jerry Jones and more. For Jones, the Dallas Cowboys leader has been calling for sports betting for a while now. He knows the kind of potential there is from a revenue standpoint. Jones wants to see people be able to check the NFL betting odds and then place money on the Cowboys.

“Well, I think it’s really a thing that needs to be addressed at this time,” Jones said in a recent interview. “One of the reasons why I think it does is because it’s happening at this time. There’s a huge amount of gaming going on in and around sports at this time. And, so, to have all of the benefits or all of the control over it, it needs to be recognized and parameters put on it and discipline put in it. Then, also the benefits that go, can go in Texas, could adhere to the right kind of people, or some property tax.”

From that quote, you can see how passionate Jones is on sports betting for people in Texas. The NFL always posts huge betting numbers across the United States, and the world for that matter. This past season, a record amount of people checked the Super Bowl betting odds and put money down. Even though the Cowboys weren’t in the big game this year, people all over Texas surely wanted a piece of the action. Everyone remains hopeful that 2023 will be the year where things get done.

Texas online betting would have a monster market

It goes without saying, but Texas online betting would have a monster market, as countless people would be ready to make some sort of a sports wager from the first day things are allowed. Right now, people are forced to either travel to an outside state to make their bets, or do so in illegal fashion. This is something that authorities in Texas are trying to crack down on as much as possible.

The big issue here is that a lot of illegal bets keep being recorded – unregulated bets like that can’t continue. This is why Jones, Cuban and plenty of government officials in Texas want to see something get done as soon as possible. In terms of online betting, the convenience and flexibility it gives bettors is something that has been incredibly popular in so many different states.

With Texas, they see that the potential really is massive, and they want people in the state to be able to have the same kind of a betting option. As we mentioned above, there’s still some things that need to be passed and addressed before things come to a vote, but this new betting bill could end up being the one to make history for Texas.

Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis Jr. comes from Mississippi where he and his family spend their days discussing college football and basketball. He's written sports journalism for years after studying journalism at a local university.