Sports Betting Bill Passed the House in Texas, but What Happens Next?

The story of legalized sports betting in the state of Texas wrote yet another chapter Thursday with the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approving Bill HJR 102. It is seen as the clearest indication yet that sports wagering in the Longhorn State isn't as far off as many would like to assume.

The decision came after a pair of readings Wednesday, in which the Bill didn’t quite meet the 100-vote threshold necessary to officially get the Texas Senate involved in the potential legalization of sports betting for their state.

While overwhelming approval in the House is encouraging, the Bill now faces an even stiffer challenge in the aforementioned Texas Senate. Historically Texas' legislatures have been made up of conservative voices, ones that haven't been shy about their opposition to legalized sports betting for their state.

What Bill HJR 102 says

Bill HJR 102 is a companion Bill to HB 1942 and was voted on at the same time the Texas House approved another Bill to allow for eight resort casinos in Texas. Bill HJR 102 passed by a 97-44 vote on Wednesday but reached the 100 votes needed with a 101-42 vote Thursday. Two-thirds support in the House was what was needed and what it got during the Thursday session.

The Bill could result in a constitutional amendment that would put the question of legal mobile sports betting before Texas voters in November. Sports wagering licenses, under the piece of legislation, would be tethered to the host of sports teams that call Texas home.

A 15% tax would be levied on gambling revenues at the best sports betting sites. Tax revenue would go to educational programs and public safety initiatives in Texas.

The arguments for

The fight to legalize sports betting and bring the best sports betting apps to Texas is not unlike many that we have seen in other jurisdictions around the country. It has the wide and loud support of all Texas’ professional sports teams and is predicated on two major factors. 

The first is that sports betting, like it or not, is already taking place in Texas. Rep. Jeff Leach said in a recent hearing that "Our estimates are that over 1 million Texans every year are placing nearly 2 million bets online totaling $7 to $8 billion annually.” Regulating and taxing something that is already taking place has proved to be a solid argument in other jurisdictions.

Then there are the basic rights and freedoms that Americans hold so dear. For governments to say "No" to a pastime that most Americans support flies in the face of such freedoms. As Rep. Leach argued: “Or do we, like I do, value freedom and liberty and trust our citizens to make decisions in the best interest of their families?”

Senate in the way

The Texas Senate has been a major stumbling block for the attempts to legalize online sports betting in Texas. And by all accounts it will continue to be. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has long warned of the Senate's opposition to any sports betting plan for his state.

Patrick has called on Republican consensus before passing any sports wagering bill, meaning that a seemingly impossible 15 of 16 Republican Senators will have to agree to send any Bill to the Governor to sign into law. “I need Republican consensus, otherwise it’s a Democrat bill,” he said, signalling a possible partisan fight that in today's political landscape, nobody seems to win.

The next steps

With the 100 votes in the House secured, it is now up to the Senate to debate and ultimately decide if Texas wants to join the 34 other states in America that now have legal sports betting and the best sportsbooks within their borders.

Passing the House was the easy part. As mentioned, the Senate is a major hurdle to clear - one that doesn't figure to pass at this point in time. The Texas Senate hasn't even agreed to hearings on casino or sports betting initiatives.

The Texas legislative session ends May 29, creating some urgency for both the House and the Senate. If the Senate agrees to parameters of a legal sports betting platform, it still has to go before the Texas voters in November.

And while voters in other states, including neighboring Louisiana, have been accepting of a legal sports betting platform, the jury is still out on one of the more conservative states in the nation.

So, while there is a rightful optimistic tone being set for legal sport betting in Texas, hurdles still exist and the first legal sports bet in the state is likely six months, if not years, away.