Chris Boline
The long, tireless debate when it comes to Texas sports betting is at an all-time high right now. With things not coming for 2022, the hopes and prayers will keep increasing for something to get done in 2023. The last thing people want to see is something delayed to 2024. With that said, the fact of Texas pushing for sports betting after record lottery sales should come as a shocker to absolutely no one.
According to a report, Texas totaled an insane number of bets for a week leading up to the mega millions, with more than $260 million in sales being recorded. That’s a truly incredible number. The winner of the mega millions which was set at $1.33 billion, ended up with the max winner being from Illinois. That ticket had a cash value of more than $700 million alone. Again, that’s a wild number to think about.
With the incredible number for Texas lottery sales, which are now on pace to smash the total numbers from last year, it has only let to more and more folks calling for sports betting to be legalized. When you take notice of how great the lottery sales have been, it adds to the intrigue of sports betting arriving at some point down the road. Only time will tell if this gets over the line and people in Texas wake up.
“Sales for last week’s Mega Millions drawings catapulted the Texas Lottery to a new all-time record for total sales in a single week,” Texas Lottery Commission Director Gary Grief said via The Texan. “The uptick in sales from the recent estimated $1.33 billion Mega Millions jackpot and the continued success of the $100 scratch ticket game have the Texas Lottery on pace to break last year’s record sales total, barring anything unforeseen occurring in the final month of the fiscal year.”
Beto O'Rourke on expanding sports betting and casino regulations in Texas. pic.twitter.com/wUIxU0vOxg
— Wagers (@WagersUSA) April 21, 2022
What’s been the hold up with Texas sports betting?
The question that people have been asking themselves consistently has been, what’s been the hold up with Texas sports betting? Millions of people are in favor of it, including some of the biggest names from the state. This of course includes Jerry Jones, Mark Cuban, Mattress Mack, and so many more. Even some politicians are into things being moved ahead with, highlighted by Beto O’Rourke.
Having said that, there’s been countless people opposed of the law coming into place to allow for sports betting for multiple reasons. At the top of the list, politicians and lawmakers are worried about the rates of gambling addiction increasing in the state. This is already an issue, as plenty of people are already placing illegal sports bets. With this, the problem of addiction continues to rise.
The argument from people who won’t want sports betting is that things will continue to spike if it’s made even easier for sports betting to arrive. While this is surely understandable and something to be concerned about, illegal betting can’t continue to happen. These folks are going to keep finding ways to bet, and it’s being done in an unregulated fashion. Legal sports betting would allow things to be controlled and monitored.
This is a major reason why people want the betting to move forward. The longer we wait for it to be made legal, the more issues that will arise from things. From our chair, Texas needs to hustle up and get this kind of betting done. We’ve seen the success from the Texas lottery, and things will only be booming for betting when it’s made legal. The hope is that people only have to wait a little longer for it to go down.
Texas sports teams are ready for betting to be welcomed
One important thing to recall when it comes to betting in the Lone Star State is that Texas sports teams are ready for betting to be welcomed. Starting with the Dallas Cowboys, Jones indeed has been vocal about wanting sports betting in the state, but he’s also been dreaming of having top-rated sportsbooks in action at AT&T Stadium for people to enjoy. They’ll be able to check out odds for the NFL and then place bets.
That will only make Cowboys games even better. The same can be said for the Houston Astros, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Dynamo, and more. Their team owners want sports betting and also for their fans to be able to make their bets at the home stadiums. It would only add to the user experience for people that make their way to those respective stadiums down the road here.
First, however, Texas needs to put things into place for sports betting to get activated. Right now, there is a chance things will come at some point next year, but there’s fear that things will further be delayed. If we have to wait for 2024, there’s going to be even more anger and frustration. We’ll see if something changes soon. As we’ve said before, it really does need to go down sooner than later.
Counting down to the start of the season, let's focus on number 3️⃣8️⃣, featuring interesting stats on Dak & CeeDee. #Countdown | #CowboysCamp
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) August 4, 2022
