Pro sports team owners in Texas are increasingly buoyant about the legalization of sports betting in the state and are part of an active push for it. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is one of the main voices supporting this. He has long seen the potential revenue streams this would create, having been the first person to sign up a gambling company as a sponsor of an NFL team. At the recent Sports Business Journal AXS DRIVE event in San Francisco, he was joined by Dallas Stars CEO Brad Albert in promoting legalization.
Jones believes that people who bet on sports tend to be more avid fans and are the ones most invested in game results. His position is supported by research in the Optimove Insights 2024-2025 Consumer Report on Wagering Intentions. This survey found that a massive 90% of people who bet on NFL games in other states enjoy the games more, with 54% saying that it significantly heightened their entertainment.
The latest updates from Florida, where the only state-regulated online betting platform is Hard Rock Bet, show that thousands, if not millions, of bettors use offshore sportsbooks. In addition to offering more betting flexibility, these platforms often provide a larger variety of sports and access to wider betting markets.
Texarkana business owners point to several advantages of legalizing online sports betting in Texas. They cite the potential for state economic growth and revenue generation through taxes, plus a job creation increase. Many believe that this would plug state budget gaps without increasing tax rates across the board. An independent research organization, Eilers and Krejcik, estimates that legalizing sports betting in Texas could generate as much as $360 million in taxes and create over 8,000 jobs.
The business community also argues that legalization would keep more sports betting revenue inside Texas. Currently, thousands of Texans travel to neighboring states like New Mexico and Louisiana, which have thriving legal sports betting industries. Legalization in Texas would prevent this fiscal outflow. North Carolina has already proven the case. Within the first week of legalizing sports betting, over $198.1 million was wagered, generating $42.7 million in tax revenue.
Another ardent supporter of legalization is Neil Leibman, the co-owner of the Texas Rangers. He echoes the sentiments of increasing the state’s tax revenue and points out that this can be used to ease the burden on all Texas residents through increased educational funds and lower property taxes. He also makes the critical point that a vast number of Texans are already betting anyway. Thus, keeping it illegal isn’t making much difference to many people’s behavior – all it’s doing is forcing those with the appetite to spend their money elsewhere, making the state the ultimate loser. He argues that creating a fair and safe online betting industry in Texas is the best option for the state.
Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has been putting his money where his mouth is. In 2021, he inked a $1.6 billion deal with sports betting platform DraftKings. In 2022, he donated almost $2 million to lawmakers to encourage legalization, and another $825,000 in 2024 to support legalizing sports betting in Texas.
Many state lawmakers agree. Rep. Jeff Leach recently proposed a bill to create and regulate an online sports betting infrastructure, controlled by the Texas Lottery Commission. The bill was defeated, after which Leach commented that data indicates Texans place over a million sports bets a year, adding up to more than $2 billion, all in a totally unregulated environment. This creates all kinds of safety risks for players. Encouragingly, Governor Greg Abbott has been signaling a more open attitude towards legalizing sports betting in Texas, in contrast to his previous antipathetic stance.