Texas Residents Favor the Legalization of Casino Gambling and Sports Betting

Last week, Texas state Senator Carol Alvarado filed Senate Joint Resolution 17 (SJR 17) for Congress’ consideration. The proposal was yet another attempt to expand gambling access to the state’s residents.

In the proposal, the Senator calls for the legalization of casino gambling and sports betting within the state’s boundaries. The proposal further addresses the need for the state to invest $2-$3 billion in retail casinos to be built in Dallas and Houston.

Keeping in mind that Texas is heavily populated with conservative Christians and migrants, getting this kind of proposal through the House and Senate will be no small task. Should she be able to succeed, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has indicated he would likely be in favor of signing such legislation.

Before anything would ever end up on his desk, it’s got to get through Congress and onto a ballot initiative. That would be the gambling expansion ball squarely in the hands of Texans, who would have the ultimate say.

As things stand today, the Joint Resolution will have to wait for the next Texas Congressional session, which is scheduled to start in early January 2023, and End in Mid-May 2023. Between now and then, state leaders are looking for an indication of which way residents are leaning on the gambling issue. Based on a recent Texas gambling survey, that answer might be coming to light.

The Results from the Recent Texas Gambling Survey

The new survey was handled by Play Texas. The group asked 750 respondents for their opinions on various aspects of the recent gambling expansion proposal. Here are some of the results.

The survey’s result indicated that 65% of the respondents do favor gambling expansion in the state. Only 11% of the respondents were absolutely against it with the other 24% reserving comments for later. Note: The survey was slanted more toward women and respondents over the age of 35.

The survey went on to ask about what kind of gambling the respondents would fully support. Here is a list of gambling options with the percentage of affirmative replies provided next to the option:

• Retail Casino Gambling – 63%
  
• Gambling Resorts – 50%
  
• Online Sports Betting – 39%
  
• Retail Sports Betting – 36%
  
• Online Poker – 35%
  
• Daily Fantasy Sports – 32%
  

While the sports betting numbers might appear a bit disappointing, there is still hope that Texas residents will support such activities if given the chance. After all, Texas is home to dozens of major professional and college sports teams.

Early indications show that the ownership of major professional teams is likely to support any kind of sports betting legislation. That certainly includes Dallas Stars (NHL) President and CEO Brad Alberts. In a recent statement, Alberts made it clear he was concerned about competing contract-wise with teams in states where sports betting is legal and brings in much-needed revenue. His statement read:

“Every year, the salary cap goes up, and part of that is due to the increased revenue in sports betting. If the Stars can’t bring in that revenue, then we can’t keep pace with the cap, and our ability to fund a competitive team suffers.”