Texas Sports Betting is Already Facing a Roadblock for 2025

You just had a feeling that some type of negative Texas sports betting news would be on the way due to the sale of the Dallas Mavericks. While at first it seemed like the sale would help push things forward, plenty of people against legal betting in the state are trying to bring the latest efforts down after Mark Cuban decided to sell the majority of his shares. Unfortunately, this means that Texas sports betting is already facing a roadblock for 2025.

As you know by now, legal betting won’t be arriving in 2024 because legislation won’t meet this upcoming year. However, despite yet another delay, the expectation for a while has been that Texas will be going all in to get things across the line for 2025. Cuban and other pro team owners in Texas, including Jerry Jones, have been adamant that they want to see things happen during the next legislative session. The betting potential is there for all the major organizations in the area.

However, in a recent interview, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick tossed some cold water on that idea, saying that he doesn’t expect there to be enough votes to push forward with casinos as a whole, let alone legal sports betting. The casino and sports betting push goes hand-in-hand, as Cuban has called for people in Texas to unite to try and get this done because he knows how valuable it will be from a tourism standpoint.

As Cuban has noted, Texas is missing out on bringing in people from other states because there are no casinos/resorts kind of experience. This is why a lot of people are choosing to go to places like Las Vegas for their trips. With Florida legalizing sports betting too, it gives folks even more reason to head to The Sunshine State. Cuban wants to see things change in Texas, but countless politicians, including Patrick, seem ready to prevent it from happening. That’s just a darn shame.

Texas in the College Football Playoff will lead to a lot of illegal bets

It goes without saying, but Texas in the College Football Playoff will lead to a lot of illegal bets being made the rest of the month. After closing out the regular season strong and winning the Big 12 championship, the Texas Longhorns are now one of four teams still left in the hunt to win the National Championship. In the semifinals, UT will take on No. 2 Washington with a trip to the title game on the line.

With the passion of the UT fanbase, we don’t have to tell you that they’re going to be ready to travel to this showdown. However, in recent years, illegal college football betting has been a big problem for the state and more of the same is going to be on the way in the CFP. Texas authorities are quite aware of this, which is why they’re going to do everything in their power to try and take down as many bookies and sports betting rings as possible.

“We’re gonna celebrate the heck out of the accomplishments of the season.They’re gonna come back and they’re going to get a lift in and a run in, and then they’re going to do that for two weeks,” Head coach Steve Sarkisian said while speaking with the press. “We’re going to take a step back from football, we’re going to go on the road and recruit as coaches. They had finals starting this past week. We’re still student-athletes and we want to do really well in school.”

Sarkisian knows there’s going to be a lot of pressure on him to get the job done and try to set up a meeting with either No. 1 Michigan or No. 4 Alabama with the glory on the line. Texas has a great team, but they currently hold the worst NCAAF betting odds out of the squads remaining. People in The Lone Star State are going to be betting on an upset against Michigan to be recorded and they’ll definitely be putting a handsome amount of money down for it to happen.

Cowboys continue raising their Super Bowl odds

Meanwhile at the professional level, the Cowboys continue raising their Super Bowl odds due to their incredible play. In Week 14, Dallas hosted Philadelphia for a monster NFC East showdown at AT&T Stadium and America’s Team had no issues at all posting a dominant win. It was a humbling loss for the Eagles, as Dallas really looked much better than them on both sides of the ball. Now, the Cowboys hold incredible NFL betting odds to win the NFC East and go on a deep postseason run.

Similar to the college football action, people in Texas are going to find a way to get their illegal NFL bets in, more specifically on the Cowboys. Dallas is looking like a serious contender to win it all. However, legal bets on Jones’ team aren’t going to be allowed until 2025 at the earliest, but right now it’s unclear if officials are going to be able to get on the same page or not by then.

Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis Jr. comes from Mississippi where he and his family spend their days discussing college football, baseball and basketball. He's written sports journalism for years after studying journalism at a local university. Over time, Peter has cultivated extensive knowledge covering sports betting legislation across the country. He closely tracks the latest regulatory developments and provides key insights into their impacts. Peter also offers sharp MLB betting analysis, leveraging stats and trends to identify value on matchups.