Two Big Fish States Texas and Florida Warming Up to Legal Sports Betting

It has been a remarkable year of growth for the US legal sports betting industry. However, we head into 2021 without the three biggest states in the Union, California, Florida, and Texas not yet on board with legalization. But news this week out of a pair of those states breeds a new sense of optimism that 1, 2 or perhaps all three of the "big fish" will have something in place by this time next year.

California has considered the benefits of legal sports betting for quite some time and legislators there have been working on the complexities of welcoming such a platform. Just this week, lawmakers in both Texas and Florida have made subtle moves that suggest that legal sports gambling could become a reality in their states in 2021. Let's take a closer look at Texas and Florida.

Texas

Texas, the second-most populous state in the US with 30 million residents, has long been considered the biggest longshot of the three states to welcome legal sports betting. But a new push for casinos in the state just may open the door for a sports betting platform sooner than later.

The renewed push comes from Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas casino magnate and one of the prized Republican Party donors. His voice looms large over the potential opening up of the legal gambling scene in Texas. So do the voices of Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones, Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban and the Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta – all of whom are open to the idea of legal sports betting in their state.

Adelson, owner of the iconic Las Vegas Sands has signaled his desires to bring gambling to The Lone Star State and vows to start lobbying Texas' next legislative session which begins in January. Texas is one of just a handful of states that only meets on such regulatory issues during odd-numbered years, so Adelson knows that if he doesn’t get something done in 2021, 2023 will be his next chance.

“We view Texas as a worldwide destination and one of the top potential markets in the entire world,” Las Vegas Sands lobbyist Andy Abboud said during a conference hosted by the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. “Texas is considered the biggest plum still waiting to be out there in the history of hospitality and gaming.”

Bill HB 477 has been drafted outlining the tax rate and the entity that will be in charge (The Texas Lottery). It attempts to clear a path for casinos in the state and allow “any game of chance, including a game of chance in which the outcome may be partially determined by skill or ability, that involves the making of a bet.”

Once casinos are OK’d, legal sports betting will follow closely.

Florida

Florida, home to approximately 21.5 million residents and nine professional sports teams spanning all four Major North American sports leagues, as well as some of the top collegiate programs in the country is another interesting prospect for the US legal sports betting industry in 2021.

In that state, State Sen. Jeff Brandes brought the idea of sports betting legislation back from the dead, after trying and failing with a similar bill in late 2019. In fact, Brandes filed three bills - Senate Bill 392 (SB 392), SB 394 and SB 396 that will hopefully be heard during the 2021 legislative session.

Brandes has covered most of, if not all aspects of what it takes to launch such a platform with his bills including licensing requirements and fees, taxation, the Department of Lottery's role in the process and just who and who isn't eligible to vote in the state. So, Bills exists – they just need to be heard and debated in the Texas legislature.

Florida’s legal sports betting platform has some unique challenges ahead of it however. The biggest is the Seminole Tribe, which holds a lot of the cards of legalization in Florida. It’s a situation similar to the still-unresolved one in California. The Seminoles, owners of the Hard Rock casino corporation claim exclusive rights over sports betting in the state, presenting an enormous hurdle for any legislative process.

But like Texas, the presence of a legislative Bill in Florida makes it a greater possibility that we will at very least have a debate on the merit of legal sports betting in the state. And that is step 1.

Why It Makes Sense Now

At this time last year, there wasn't a whole lot of optimism out of Texas and Florida that they would ever see a legal sports betting platform. COVID-19 has changed a lot of minds and has created an instant need for jurisdictions to generate new forms of revenue for drained state and local coffers.

With half of the US states with or in the process of setting up their own legal gambling platforms, there is plenty of heavy lifting that has already been done by other jurisdictions. Legal sports betting is working in other states - Texas and Florida could simply pick and choose attractive aspects from those jurisdictions but instead are falling behind.

But where there is smoke, there’s hopefully fire for the proponents of legal gambling in the two states. There is still a ton of work to do in each before the pro-gambling side can claim victory, but the fact that Texas and Florida are even talking about welcoming such a platform is a small victory on a long path toward legalization.