Is Online Sports Betting Legal in Texas?
Despite an absolutely massive sports culture, sports gambling isn’t legal in Texas.
Historically, the Lone Star State has maintained a firm stance against gambling in virtually all types and though there are signs of a change, Texans shouldn’t hold their breath waiting for legal sports gambling to arrive anytime soon.
However, there are a couple exceptions. While standard sports betting isn’t allowed, sites providing daily fantasy sports, for example DraftKings and FanDuel are allowed to function in the nation.
Early in 2019 a state lawmaker filed a brand new Texas sports gambling bill to allow in-person and mobile sports gambling and whether it looks amazing on paper, it confronts a few big challenges. More importantly in the next section.
In this guide we will take a deep dive into Texas sports gambling laws to reply:
When are you going to be able to wager on sports lawfully in Texas?
What’s the new Texas sports gambling bill H 1275 all about?
How will people in Texas be able to bet on sports when it becomes legal?
We’ll also delve into the questions of whether it’s legal to bet on daily dream sports (DFS) at Texas and the way the nation’s enormous professional and college athletics culture will play to the legal sports gambling industry we may one day see grow from 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 since the US Supreme Court overturned the decades-old national ban online sports betting called PASPA.
We’ll lay out the bill’s main points in a minute but first let’s go over the key reasons this bill may have difficulty passing.
First of all, it had been released by a Democrat and Texas is a staunchly Republican state. Second, for the bill to pass, a referendum to amend the state constitution to add sports betting must be held. The settlement 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 are the bill’s main features:
Online and mobile sports betting in Texas is going to be lawful.
A maximum of five permits will be sold. Each permit will permit two online gaming website skins.
Gamblers will pay a 6.25% tax, very similar to a sales tax, on all money payable.
In the event the bill and resolution to amend the constitution pass, sports betting will be lawful in Texas on January 1, 2020.
The Current Sports Betting Situation at Texas
Estimates suggest billions of dollars of tax revenue could be generated from sports gambling legalization and that Texas are the second-biggest sports gambling state in the country.
Even without online and mobile betting, it is projected that Texans will wager $9 billion on sports yearly. A 6.25% tax on those sales would equal over $500 million.
The desire to get that potential revenue is butting up against a mostly conservative, anti-gambling institution which will result in an interesting dynamic if this bill moves ahead.
A prevailing anti-gambling mindset is not the only hurdle this invoice will have to clean. As you’ll read below, even if the country wished to legalize sports betting it’d still need to amend its constitution to permit for gambling on sports.
All types of gambling, with the exception of this state lottery and horse and dog racing, is prohibited in Texas.
There is but one tribal casino in the entire state and it isn’t allowed to offer casino table games, only slots.
The gaming laws are incredibly rigid 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 partner with a casino.
This doesn’t mean legalization is coming shortly to Texas, however the country’s flagship sports company inking a significant deal with a casino business is another portion of the puzzle that’s coming together.
Another large element is that Texas’s neighbors including New Mexico, Louisiana, and Oklahoma either have fully fledged legalized sports betting or have bills in motion to legalize it. That means Texans will have ample chance to take their billions of dollars and wager it out of state.
Texas Betting Laws Summary
Sports gambling is currently illegal in Texas.
A sports betting bill was introduced in February of 2019 which could take effect on January 1, 2020.
While sports gambling is illegal, dog and horse racing are legal. The state lottery has been in existence since 1991.
There is one tribal casino in Texas, the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino in Eagle Pass on the Mexico border.
Daily dream sports betting is lawful and DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo! all accept players from Texas.
The History of Online Sports Betting at Texas
There is no actual sports gambling background in Texas. The nation has enforced one of the country’s strictest group of anti-gambling laws and it goes far back. Dog and horse racing are all lawful in Texas, nevertheless gamblers can simply put in-person wagers. OTB gambling isn’t allowed.
To Provide the present situation some context, let us look at the most crucial moments in Texas’s gambling history:
1933 – Texas implements its very first Pari-Mutuel horse race betting.
1937 – Four years into the state’s foray into legal horse racing the tracks are closed down and gaming on the races is prohibited.
1971 – Charity gaming is exempted from anti-gambling legislation. Two years after this ruling is overturned once more making it illegal again.
1982 – Licenses for charitable gambling are legally sanctioned. This required an amendment to the state constitution in 1980.
1987 – Pari-mutuel horse track betting reunite thanks to some favorable effect in a state referendum. Simulcast betting from outside racetracks is introduced in 1991.
1988 – Casino Cruises are offered which sanction legal gaming so long as they are in international waters. Vessels depart from the Texas coast. Operations lasted for 20 years before shutting down.
1992 – A referendum passes permitting for a state lottery that 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. Just one tribal casino stays to date which is possessed by the Kickapoo tribe just south of San Antonio near Mexico.
2013 – Lots of bills are introduced to expand gambling in the state but don’t find 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 online sports gambling websites are legal. 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 options.
The Lone Star state is unique in that it only has a single tribal casino, and it’s situated near the Texas/Mexico border. It’s a good bet that this business will try to get involved using a land-based sportsbook and an internet gaming program.
Other physical infrastructure as far as casinos is scarce so we expect the majority of the actions to occur online.
Like we mentioned before, the WinStar World Casino made a formal deal with the Dallas Cowboys which may be an indicator that it is considering going into the market.
In addition, we expect established online sports gambling sites that are already working in different states to apply for permits. Including brands such as BetStars, 888sport and many more.
If legalization will occur, check this page for specialist reviews on all of the best online sportsbooks in Texas.
Which Sports Could You Bet on Online in Texas?
Texas is among the most sports crazy states in the whole country, with just two NFL teams, three NBA teams, two MLB teams, two MLS teams, along with an NHL team.
And that does not even tap into their huge collegiate match footprint, together with top rated teams coming from colleges such as Texas, Texas Tech, SMU, Vanderbilt, and Texas A&M.
When and if legal sports gambling comes to Texas, gamblers will be able to wager on favorite North American sport and pretty much anything else located anywhere on the planet.
A Normal menu of sport 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
Gambling is currently extremely restricted in Texas, with a single property tribal casino in the whole country and no bodily sportsbooks.
The sports betting legislation that is currently in the works gives us an indication of how things will likely work in the future.
In other countries that currently allow online sports gambling, the process of signing up for an account, depositing money and placing legal wagers is actually straightforward.
First browse reviews of all the best online sports gambling sites in Texas, find one you like and then register for an account. You can usually create an account from anywhere but you must be in Texas to actually make bets.
You’re going to need to supply some personal information and after your account is installed, you can deposit cash using lots of popular banking choices. You may often get in on special welcome bonuses as well as other offers when you deposit.
When the cash is in your account, just discover the sport that you want to wager on and put your wager.
Are Daily Fantasy Sports Legal in Texas?
Players can place wagers at favorite DFS gaming websites such as FanDuel and DraftKings, however there is a small legal gray area when it comes to whether it is really legal or not.
While the state does not press charges against everyday dream sites, there were ineffective invoices to fully legalize DFS previously.
The two FanDuel and DraftKings accept Texas players and the state seems content with allowing this play out in a country of legal flux until it completely considers their next steps online sports gambling.
Concerning security, the Fantasy Sports Trade Association and the US Gaming Commission are responsible for all DFS activity so at the end of the afternoon, funds on the websites are 100% protected.
What Is the Future of Online Sports Betting in Texas?
While a dark location for lawful gambling, Texas’s potential as far as sports betting goes has gotten somewhat brighter.
There’s still a ways to go but with the debut of a new bill to legalize sports gambling we’re beginning to see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
Estimates vary, but the American Sports Betting Coalition believes legalized sports gambling could inject nearly $2 billion dollars to the local market and produce over 9,000 jobs. With Texans already gambling on sports illegally and in different states, new legislation may actually have a chance of passing.
On the opposite side of the argument are groups like the General Baptist Convention of Texas which consists of approximately three million Texans. Not only are they against legal sports betting, they wish to eliminate the whole state lottery.
Rob Kohler is a lobbyist for the Baptist Convention and states the tax on sports betting will hurt the poorest people in the country the most, like the lottery.
“It would make a sales tax blush with its regressivity. So, is it smart for us to fund our government together with all the people that we’re giving money to help? No,” said Kohler.
On the other hand, the State lottery failed to generate $1.3 billion in 2017 for the state’s education system. The taxation revenue from sports betting will be even larger.
Questions Remain for Legal Texas Sports Betting
Whether sports gambling is finally legalized in Texas depends on lots of different factors and no one can predict exactly how it’s likely to play out.
Our very best guess is that it will happen but it might not be the current sports betting bill which gets the work done.
However, if all goes perfectly and H 1275 passes with an amendment to the constitution, Texans would be able to get started betting on sports legally as early as January 1, 2020.
The sheer size of the potential industry and gains, literally tens of thousands of dollars, is the largest reason we might observe this legislation fast-tracked.
Meanwhile, sports gamblers in Texas can gamble on DFS, or even make the excursion to one of a few nearby states that are already legalizing full-on sports gambling.
2019 will be an important year for online sportsbooks in Texas and we’re going to post major developments as they occur on this particular page.
Additionally, browse our country by state guides to legal sports gambling in the united states for more info on different parts of the nation.
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