Texas vs. Minnesota: A Race to Legalize Sports Betting

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00:00All right, so bad luck we learned this morning in the state of Minnesota, maybe some good

00:05luck coming from Texas.

00:06You know, Sam, I would not have predicted that Texas could legalize sports betting before

00:10the state of Minnesota, but it sure seems like there is at least a stronger possibility

00:14in Texas getting something on the bill with the results from Minnesota yesterday.

00:18Yeah, you want to talk about luck in a crapshoot, it's which state is going to legalize sports

00:23betting next.

00:24You know, one day you hear that Minnesota is close to doing it, then you hear that Texas

00:28is a state you think will never do it, is inching towards it as well.

00:31So Texas, you know, they introduced a bill this week which would allow the legislature

00:37to amend the state constitution to then legalize gambling.

00:42So essentially this would have to pass first the House, then the Senate, then it would

00:46go towards voters in November on the ballot, and they would get to essentially pick whether

00:51or not they want sports betting legalized.

00:53Now whenever sports betting has actually been able to get to the ballot in the state, it's

00:57usually passed.

00:58California is the only time it hasn't happened, and that was a very interesting, unique circumstance

01:03with the tribes and everything over there.

01:05But in Texas, this has been tried before.

01:07The legislature only meets in odd years, which is very strange, so that's been a big roadblock

01:12to getting this done.

01:14But beyond that, it's been the lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, who has pretty much

01:19said that he will not be in favor of any gambling expansion.

01:23And the reason that's important is because he presides over the Senate.

01:26He basically determines what gets a vote, what even the Senate gets to take up.

01:30So as of right now, he's very aligned with the religious kind of right-wing, Old South

01:35base in Texas that doesn't want gambling expansion.

01:40That could change, possibly.

01:41There was some speculation about whether he would be leaving, but as of right now, he's

01:45against it.

01:46So while this is a good kind of momentum, at least to bring the idea to the table, it's

01:51really going to take him turning around.

01:52But Texas has got a lot of attention as of late.

01:55The Adelmans obviously own the Dallas Mavericks now.

01:57They also own half of the publicly traded gambling companies, so they have a lot of

02:02influence and a lot of big reason to want sports betting legalized.

02:05Jerry Jones owns the Cowboys, has been a big proponent, as well as Mark Cuban, former owner

02:10of the Mavs.

02:12And we're really seeing the companies themselves focus on Texas as something they want to get

02:17over the finish line this year.

02:19But it's all going to come down to politics at the end of the day.

02:23The governor's in favor of it.

02:24They're getting more support, but unless the lieutenant governor changes his mind, it might

02:29be another uphill battle this year for Texas.

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