Despite an absolutely massive sports culture, sports betting is not legal in Texas.
Historically, the Lone Star State has maintained a firm stance against gambling in almost all types and though there are signs of a change, Texans should not hold their breath waiting for legal sports betting to arrive anytime soon.
But, there are a couple of exceptions. While standard sports gambling is not allowed, sites providing daily fantasy sports, for example DraftKings and FanDuel are allowed to function in the nation.
Early in 2019 a state lawmaker registered a new Texas sports gambling bill to allow in-person and cellular sports betting and while it looks amazing on paper, it confronts a couple of huge challenges. More importantly in the next section.
In this guide we’ll take a deep dive into Texas sports betting laws to reply:
When will you be able to wager on sports legally in Texas?
What is the new Texas sports gambling bill H 1275 about?
How can people in Texas have the ability to wager on sports when it will become legal?
We’ll also delve into the questions of whether it’s legal to bet on daily fantasy sports (DFS) at Texas and how the state’s enormous professional and college athletics culture will play into the legal sports gambling industry we will one day see develop in the Lone Star State.
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Texas Sports Betting Bill Filed Feb 1, 2019 (H 1275)
About February 1, 2019, Rep. Eddie Lucio III registered H 1275, the first sports gambling bill in Texas because the US Supreme Court overturned the decades-old federal ban on sports betting called PASPA.
We’ll lay the bill’s most important points in a second but first let’s discuss the main reasons this bill can have difficulty passing.
To start with, it had been released by a Democrat and Texas is a staunchly Republican country. Secondly, for the bill to pass, a referendum to amend the state constitution to add sports betting must be held. The resolution will need to pass by a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate and be approved in a voter referendum. The oldest that may occur is November, 2019.
Here would be the bill’s most important attributes:
Online and mobile sports betting in Texas will be lawful.
A maximum of five permits will be sold. Each license will allow two online gaming website skins.
Gamblers will pay a 6.25% tax, very similar to a revenue tax, on all money wagered.
In the event the bill and resolution to amend the constitution both pass, sports betting will be legal in Texas on January 1, 2020.
The Recent Sports Betting Situation in Texas
Estimates suggest billions of dollars of tax revenue could be generated from sports gambling legalization and that Texas are the second-biggest sports betting state in the nation.
Even without internet and mobile betting, it’s projected that Texans will wager $9 billion on sports annually. A 6.25percent tax on these sales would equal over $500 million.
The desire to get that potential revenue is butting up against a largely conservative, anti-gambling establishment which will make for an interesting dynamic if this bill moves ahead.
A prevailing anti-gambling attitude is not the only hurdle this bill will have to clear. Since you’ll read about below, even if the state wanted to legalize sports gambling it’d still need to amend its constitution to allow for betting on sports.
All types of gaming, with the exception of this state lottery and horse and dog racing, is prohibited in Texas.
There’s but one tribal casino in the whole country and it isn’t allowed to offer casino table games, just slots.
The gambling laws are amazingly stiff from the Lone Star State and bookmaking is a Class A misdemeanor.
Despite sports betting being prohibited in Texas, the state’s biggest sports team, the Dallas Cowboys, have agreed to a sponsorship agreement with WinStar World Casino.
With the deal, the Cowboys became the first NFL team to associate with a casino.
This doesn’t mean legalization is coming soon to Texas, no matter how the state’s flagship sports franchise inking a major deal with a casino company is just another part of the puzzle that’s coming together.
Another big factor is that Texas’s neighbors including New Mexico, Louisiana, and Oklahoma either have fully fledged legalized sports gambling or have bills in movement to legalize it. Meaning Texans will have ample chance to take their billions of dollars and bet it out of state.
Texas Betting Laws Summary
Sports gambling is currently illegal in Texas.
A sports gambling bill was introduced in February of 2019 that could take effect on January 1, 2020.
While sports gambling is illegal, horse and dog racing are lawful. The state lottery has been in existence since 1991.
There’s one tribal casino in Texas, the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino in Eagle Pass to the Mexico border.
Daily fantasy sports gambling is legal and DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo! all accept players from Texas.
The History of Online Sports Betting in Texas
There’s no actual sports gambling background in Texas. The nation has enforced among the nation’s strictest group of anti-gambling laws and it goes way back. Dog and horse racing are all legal in Texas, however gamblers can only place in-person wagers. OTB betting isn’t permitted.
To Provide the present scenario some context, let us look at the most crucial moments in Texas’s gaming history:
1933 – Texas implements its first Pari-Mutuel horse race betting.
1937 – Four years into the country’s foray into lawful horse racing that the tracks are shut down and gaming on the races is banned.
1971 – Charity gambling is exempted from anti-gambling legislation. A couple of years after this judgment is overturned after more making it illegal .
1982 – Licenses for charitable gaming are legally sanctioned. This took an amendment to the state constitution in 1980.
1987 – Pari-mutuel horse track betting reunite as a result of some positive effect in a state referendum. Simulcast betting from external racetracks is introduced in 1991.
1988 – Casino Cruises are available which sanction legal gambling as long as they are in international waters. Vessels depart from the Texas shore. Operations lasted for 20 years before shutting down.
1992 – A referendum passes allowing for a state lottery which includes pulls and scratch-off games.
1996 — 2002: Tribal/state compacts come to a head as bingo halls and casinos on tribal lands are closed and reopened several times. Only one tribal casino remains to date which is owned by the Kickapoo tribe just south of San Antonio near Mexico.
2013 – Lots of bills are introduced to expand gambling in the country but do not see the light of day. Plans comprised offering video lottery terminals at racetracks and eight state-licensed casinos.
Which Online Betting Sites Are Legal in Texas?
As of now, no internet sports gambling websites are lawful. Taking a look at the present sports gambling bill, however, it’s clear that the future of authorized Texas sports gambling will incorporate online and mobile gambling choices.
The Lone Star state is unique in that it just has a single tribal casino, and it is located near the Texas/Mexico border. It is a fantastic bet that this business will attempt to become involved with a land-based sportsbook and an internet gaming program.
Other physical infrastructure so far as casinos is scarce so we anticipate the majority of the action to happen online.
Like we mentioned before, the WinStar World Casino made an official deal with the Dallas Cowboys which can be an indicator that it is interested in going into the marketplace.
In addition, we expect established online sports betting sites that are already working in other nations to apply for permits. Including brands such as BetStars, 888sport and a lot more.
If legalization does happen, check this page for expert reviews on all of the best online sportsbooks in Texas.
Which Sports Could You Bet on Online in Texas?
Texas is among the very sports mad states in the entire nation, with just two NFL teams, three NBA teams, two MLB teams, two MLS teams, and also an NHL team.
And that does not even tap into their huge collegiate match footprint, with high ranked teams coming from schools like Texas, Texas Tech, SMU, Vanderbilt, and Texas A&M.
When and if legal sports betting comes to Texas, gamblers will have the ability to wager on favorite North American sport and pretty much anything else found anywhere in the world.
A Normal menu of sports Texans will Have the Ability to bet on includes:
NFL Football
NCAA Football
NBA Basketball
NCAA Basketball
NHL Hockey
NCAA Hockey
MLB Baseball
NCAA Baseball
Australian Rules
Boxing
Cricket
Formula 1
Golf
MMA
Nascar
Rugby
Football (MLS, Premier League, Champions League, La Liga, International Competitions and much more )
Tennis
Non-sports Entertainment
The Way to Bet on Sports Legally in Texas
Betting is currently extremely limited in Texas, with one property tribal casino in the whole country and no bodily sportsbooks.
The sport gambling legislation that is now in the works gives us an indication of how things will likely work in the future.
In other countries that already allow online sports gambling, the practice of signing up for an account, depositing money and placing legal wagers is really simple.
First browse reviews of all the best online sports betting websites in Texas, find one you like and then sign up for an account. You can usually make an account from anywhere but you have to be in Texas to really make bets.
You’ll need to supply some personal info and once your account is installed, you can deposit cash using tons of popular banking options. You may frequently get in on particular welcome bonuses as well as other offers when you deposit.
Once the money is in your accounts, just discover the game you want to wager on and place your wager.
Are Daily Fantasy Sports Legal in Texas?
Players may place wagers at favorite DFS gaming websites including FanDuel and DraftKings, however there is a bit of a legal gray area when it comes to if it is actually legal or not.
While the state doesn’t press charges against daily dream websites, there were unsuccessful invoices to fully legalize DFS in the past.
Both FanDuel and DraftKings accept Texas players and the state seems content with allowing this play out in a state of lawful flux until it fully considers their next steps on sports gambling.
Concerning safety, the Fantasy Sports Trade Association and the US Gambling Commission are responsible for many DFS action so at the close of the day, funds on the sites are 100% protected.
What’s the Future of Online Sports Betting at Texas?
While historically a dark location for lawful gambling, Texas’s future so far as sports gambling goes is becoming a bit brighter.
There’s still a ways to go but with the introduction of a new bill to legalize sports betting we are starting to see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
Estimates vary, but the American Sports Betting Coalition believes legalized sports betting could inject nearly $2 billion dollars to the local market and create over 9,000 jobs. With Texans already betting on sports and in other states, new laws may really have a chance of death.
On the opposite side of the argument are groups like the General Baptist Convention of Texas which is made up of roughly three million Texans. Not only are they against legal sports gambling, they want to get rid of the entire state lottery.
Rob Kohler is a lobbyist for the Baptist Convention and says the proposed tax on sports betting will hurt the poorest people in the country that the most, similar to the lottery.
“It’d create a revenue tax deduction using its regressivity. So, can it be smart for us to finance our government with all the people that we’re giving money to assist? No,” said Kohler.
On the other hand, the State lottery did generate $1.3 billion in 2017 for the nation’s education system. The tax revenue from legal sports betting will be even bigger.
Questions Remain for Legal Texas Sports Betting
Whether sports betting is finally legalized in Texas depends upon plenty of different variables and no one can predict precisely how it’s going to play out.
Our best guess is it is going to occur but it may not be the current sports gambling bill that gets the work done.
However, if all goes perfectly and H 1275 passes with an amendment to the state constitution, Texans will have the ability to get started betting on sports lawfully as early as January 1, 2020.
The sheer size of the possible industry and profits, literally billions of dollars, is the biggest reason we may observe this laws fast-tracked.
In the meantime, sports bettors in Texas can bet on DFS, or even make the trip to one of a couple of nearby countries that are already legalizing full-length sports betting.
2019 will be an important year for internet sportsbooks in Texas and we’re going to post major developments as they happen on this page.
Additionally, browse our country by state guides to legal sports betting in the united states for more info on different parts of the country.
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