Texas Sports Betting Apps 2023: TX Launch News & Updates

Is Sports Betting Legal in Texas?

No, sports betting is not available in Texas. State legislators shot down an April 2021 bill that would have legalized sports betting. Since the state’s legislature meets only in odd-numbered years, there will no further movement on the matter until 2023 at the earliest.

Gambling legalization would require amending the Texas constitution. Constitutional amendments require approval from two-thirds of the House and Senate, and then approval from a majority of Texas voters.

Texas Sports Betting – Quick Overview

Best Sports Betting Alternatives for Texas:

• Fliff Sports Betting – Fliff lets you make traditional sports betting wagers (spreads, point totals, prop bets, etc.) You do so with fake currency, but then you can redeem the fake currency for cash prizes. Because you technically aren’t playing with real money and because it is totally free to play, Fliff is perfectly legal in Texas.

Best Free Betting Apps In Texas

Sportsbook Promotions & Bonuses

When sports betting does launch in Texas, there will be many opportunities for new users to claim bonuses. The most popular sportsbooks in the U.S. promote welcome offers at state launches to help gain users. If you are in a legal sports betting state, check out the welcome offers below and signup to claim new bonuses.

Best DFS Apps In Texas

Daily fantasy sports, or DFS, is a shorter version of popular fantasy sports games. It allows players to put fantasy teams together every day in intense competitions. Every player on a player’s fantasy sports team accumulates points based on the real players’ real statistics. It’s a great way for players to test their knowledge of the sports and players they’re using in their fantasy teams. DFS also has the advantage of occurring more often, so players can get this practice year-round. It’s legal in Texas because DFS is classified as a skill-based game instead of a game of chance. So, it’s not gambling in the same sense that a slot machine in a casino is.

But if players want to get into fantasy sports, there are two giants in the industry to choose between: DraftKings and FanDuel.

Why It’s So Difficult To Legalize Sports Betting In Texas

The Lone Star State is counter-intuitively conservative when it comes to sports betting, which is currently illegal in Texas. 

In 2019, a 15-page bill called HB 1275, championed by Representative Eddie Lucio III, was brought to Texas’s legislature. It included provisions that would authorize both online and mobile wagering for Texan residents. The bill stipulated further measures including:

• The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation would oversee the resulting gambling industry
• There would be a 6.25% tax rate imposed for any sports wager
• It would allow sports bettors to wager on both professional and college sports

However, this bill—and, as many Texas lawmakers argue, any effort to legalize sports betting—would require a referendum to amend the Texas Constitution.

In Texas, gambling is outlawed due to a constitutional provision, not a regularly passed law.

As a result, passing any bill will be quite difficult. It not only would need two-thirds support in the House of Representatives and Senate, it also needs to go on a ballot and receive approval from voters. 

Still, Texas sports betting is looking more and more likely every day. 

Many big Texas professional sports team owners, such as Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks, and Tilman Fertitta of the Houston Rockets have announced their support for Texas sports betting. And every legislative session, sports betting bills will be introduced until one or two finally pass.

Texas sports betting could produce revenue numbers similar to New York when that happens, according to one industry expert.

“Texas would be right up there,” Ben Fawkes, the vice president of digital content for the Vegas Stats and Information Network told KCENTV. “It would be in the top three for sure and then probably one or two depending on adoption but it’s such a massive population base, it’s gonna be one of the biggest markets.”

It’s possible Texas sports betting could become a reality in 2023.

The Path To Legal Sports Betting In Texas

The sports betting legalization effort in Texas has been relatively slow going so far. Opposition from the President of the State Senate, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, as well as other influential Republican lawmakers will continue to keep hopes low for would-be Texas sports bettors.

However, various big players in the sports industry, including Mark Cuban, Jerry Jones, and Tilman Fertitta, have all voiced their support for Texas sports betting and own many of the state’s major teams. Furthermore, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has voiced his own support for Texas sports betting on a provisional level (i.e. he needs to see the details before coming out in full support).

Latest Efforts at Legalizing Texas Sports Betting

In February 2023, state senator Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) and representative Jeff Leach (R-Plano) filed HB 1942 and HJR 102 to legalize and regulate mobile sports betting in Texas. The legislation is supported by the Texas Sports Betting Alliance comprised of Texas professional sports franchises, sports leagues, racetracks, and betting platforms.

“Senator Kolkhorst and Representative Leach understand the voters of Texas want the chance to vote whether to legalize mobile sports betting,” said Governor Rick Perry, Spokesperson for the Texas Sports Betting Alliance. “Revenue from legal mobile sports betting in Texas could bring in more than a quarter billion in the first biennium alone. Our neighboring states are cashing in on Texans’ bets and a smart, efficient legal framework will keep that revenue here to go towards much-needed property tax relief.”

Supports and critics of House Bill 1942, which would permit regulated sports betting, testified before lawmakers in a House committee hearing on March 22, 2022. Testimony was also heard regarding HJR102, the companion bill to allow the legislature and citizens to vote on a constitutional amendment to permit Texas mobile sports gaming.

On May 11, 2023, the Texas House of Representatives gave final approval to legislation that would let voters decide whether to legalize online sports betting across the state on the November 2023 general election ballot. The proposal needed 100 votes to pass and got exactly that when the roll was first called. A subsequent verification of the vote, which took several minutes as the clerk ticked through every member, produced 101 votes in favor of House Joint Resolution 102.

The sports-betting legislation was able to clear the 100-vote threshold after several members changed their votes Thursday. At least five voted yes on HJR 102 after voting no a day earlier. The legislation must now pass that chamber also with a two-thirds majority. Any gambling legislation is expected to face a steep challenge in the Texas Senate.

Indeed, hopes for legal sports betting in Texas appear to be fading. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick posted on Mother’s Day: “Texas is a red state. Yet the House vote on sports betting was carried by a Dem majority. The Texas Senate doesn’t pass bills with GOP in the minority. HJR 102 also will not be referred. Can’t waste committee/floor time in the last days.” Sports betting in Texas could technically still be passed this session if Patrick changed his mind. However, the casino proposals cannot succeed without HJR 155, and the deadline for the House to pass it was Friday.

Time will tell, and Gaming Today will be keeping you updated every step of the way.

Who Supports Legalizing Sports Betting in Texas?

The Sports Betting Alliance supports efforts to legalizing expanded gaming in Texas. The Alliance is comprised of professional Texas sports teams, racetracks, betting platforms, and fans including:

How Can Texans Bet On Sports?

With neighboring Louisiana live now, and given its close proximity to Texas, residents of the Lone Star State won’t have to drive too far to get their sports gambling fix. Shreveport, for example, is approximately 20 miles from the Texas border.

Texas Sports Betting Potential Revenue

It’s difficult to estimate the precise amount of sports betting revenue that Texas would generate. But it would be absolutely massive. In fact, there’s a good chance Texas would be the biggest sports betting market in the US if it legalizes it.

Texas sports betting could produce revenue numbers similar to New York once legalization occurs in the Lone Star State, according to one industry expert.

According to the Texas Sports Betting Alliance, revenue from sports betting in the Lone Star State could immediately bring in as much as $180 million for the current budget and the number could grow as high as $400 million for future state budgets. 

Gaming Today reports that based upon the parameters of HB1942, which would grant mobile gaming licenses to Texas’s 14 professional sports teams, Eilers & Krejcik Gaming reported estimates a mature online sports betting market in Texas would generate approximately $2.37 billion dollars in gross annual gaming revenue. That revenue would result in approximately $180 million in direct annual tax revenue to the state. They also estimate legal sports betting has the potential to create hundreds of direct jobs and thousands of indirect and induced jobs in Texas.

Texas is a big sports state. From Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio all have massive major league teams, and two colleges boast the top ten biggest stadiums on the planet by capacity (Texas A&M is 6th and Texas Longhorns is 9th).

Texas also has the second biggest in US after California, with 29.36 million residents. The current biggest sports betting market in the US is New Jersey, where online sportsbooks handle close to a billion dollars per month. New Jersey’s population is 8.882 million residents, which is less than a third of the population of Texas.

That is to say Texas online sports betting apps would handle at least a billion dollars or more per month. If we go strictly based on New Jersey, Texas sportsbooks would handle over $3 billion per month or $36 billion per year. That’s a lot of revenue, and that translates to a ton of tax dollars for the state.

How Texas Compares To Other States

Texas’s history might be considered relatively wild or frontier-oriented compared to many other states. But in the modern-day, Texas remains a stalwartly conservative state on most major social issues, including gambling. This is becoming even more true as southern states progress more rapidly with respect to legalizing sports betting, including Arizona, Louisiana, and even Florida. 

In fact, it’s incredibly hard to practice any kind of legal gambling in Texas. This ranges from casino games to card games to sports betting. That’s partly due to the state’s hardline conservative stance against gambling, and prohibition was a part of the state’s constitution where it was admitted to the union.

Texas does technically allow for casinos on tribal-owned lands. There have been three Native American casinos in Texas so far, but only two remain since one closed down some years back. One is the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle along the Mexican border and the other is Naskila Gaming outside of Livingston.

As a result, Texas compares pretty poorly to other states, at least in terms of its current gambling opportunities. Players can only participate in any gambling games by visiting one of the two above-mentioned tribal casinos. 

However, Texas does have legal poker rooms, many of which are located in and around major cities like Dallas and San Antonio.

Texas Sports Betting Successes And Failures

Texas Sports Betting Successes

Texas currently doesn’t have many sports betting successes to speak of. That’s because the road to sports betting legalization has been long and slow despite the Supreme Court overturning PASPA in 2018.

However, Texas legislators have pushed for sports betting legalization in the past, and momentum seems to be growing. It would be surprising if Texas doesn’t legalize sports betting before the end of the decade, and hopefully by 2023.

Furthermore, Texas as a whole is a state with well-developed professional and college-level sports industries. In fact, professional and college sports are two major cultural touchstones for Texans and are core parts of the state’s national identity.

Therefore, any future Texas sports betting industry will benefit from built-in fans for local teams, including favorites like the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas A&M Aggies.

Where Texas Could Improve Online Gambling

Naturally, Texas could seriously improve its online gambling industry by enabling it in the first place. At the time of this writing, no online gambling activities are permitted whatsoever, even on tribal land. The tribal casinos are pretty limited in terms of their activity options too.

For bettors, the best course of action would be for Texas lawmakers to simultaneously legalize online sports betting while authorizing multiple in-person casino locations. There will be a new push in 2022. And if it doesn’t happen then, sports betting advocates will push for it in 2023, and so on until it gets done.

Are Off-Shore Betting Sites Safe?

No. Texas sports betting enthusiasts have a long road ahead as they wait for sports betting legalization. But even though it may take up to a year or more for online sports betting to launch, it’s still a good idea to wait rather than use an offshore or illegal betting site.

That’s because offshore sites have terrible digital security and cannot guarantee the safety of your personal information or deposited funds. Identity theft is more common in this day and age than ever before and cybercriminals can all too easily lift your personal information, like your Social Security or credit card numbers, from offshore sportsbooks.

Offshore sportsbooks also have subpar odds and betting lines compared to their legitimate counterparts. Licensed and regulated sportsbooks use professional oddsmakers to create entertaining betting lines for both underdog bettors and those who prefer to wager on favored teams.

In contrast, offshore sportsbooks might come up with their odds randomly, leading to an overall unpleasant or unsatisfying sports betting experience.

Bottom line: Wait for legal sports betting to come to Texas, even if it seems like it’ll take a while yet. For now, you can always cross state lines and visit nearby states with legal sports betting, like New Mexico and Mississippi, both of which have retail sportsbooks (but no online betting). Louisiana does offer mobile sports betting now, so that is another viable option depending on where you reside in Texas.

What Sports Betting Apps Could Come To Texas?

At the moment, there are no Texas sports betting sites to speak of. However, sports betting is becoming more popular throughout the country and many major operators would likely leap at the chance to provide sports wagers to Texan residents.

More: PrizePicks Fantasy Promo Code

DraftKings, BetMGM, FanDuel, Fanatics, and Barstool are all partners in the Texas Sports Betting Alliance, meaning each would be among the leading candidates to launch when and if Texas sports betting is legalized. Representative Jeff Leach’s HB1942 would grant mobile gaming licenses to Texas’s 14 professional sports teams. The teams would then contract with a mobile gaming operator of their choosing to provide sports betting within the state.

Certain big players in the industry also have with Texas sports teams. For instance, Tilman Fertitta, the owner of the Houston Rockets, also owns the Golden Nugget, which is a casino and sports betting chain.

Furthermore, Jerry Jones has a big stake in DraftKings, one of the largest sports betting providers in the country. Mark Cuban owns an esports betting platform called Unikrn. All in all, these connections indicate that there’s already some political infrastructure in place to smooth over the launch of certain big sports betting operators.

In particular, we’d expect most major American and international sportsbooks to launch in Texas if and when sports betting is legalized. That’s partly because Texas is the second most populous state in the country, so the potential gambling fanbase is unimaginable. Popular sportsbooks we’d like to see include:

• DraftKings
• BetMGM
• Caesars Sportsbook
• BetRivers
• FanDuel
• PointsBet

However, it remains to be seen how exactly future Texas sports betting legislation may pan out. Some states have imposed big restrictions on sports betting registration, requiring each licensed operator to partner with a local casino. States like Illinois and Iowa also initially required players to complete the registration process at those retail locations rather than remotely.

This would theoretically be more complex for Texas as the state currently only has two tribal-owned casinos. Therefore, it would need to approve and build more casinos for sports betting partnerships to become a viable operational method.

It’s more likely that any online or mobile sportsbooks will allow online-only registration to get around this limitation and launch online sports betting more quickly.

Most Popular Sports To Bet On In Texas

Texas Professional Sports Teams

Texas is home to a wide range of professional sports teams. In fact, it has teams in all four major North American professional leagues, including basketball, football, baseball, and hockey. These teams are:

• The Dallas Cowboys (NFL)
• The Houston Texans (NFL)
• The San Antonio Spurs (NBA)
• The Houston Rockets (NBA)
• The Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
• The Houston Astros (MLB)
• The Texas Rangers (MLB)
• The Dallas Stars (NHL)

All of these teams have devoted fan followings and are already represented in sports betting markets in other states. As a result, future sports bettors in this state will have a wide range of betting options and teams to choose from. The sports betting market is practically baked into the state already.

While sports betting is not yet legal in Texas, the Dallas Cowboys have a sponsorship deal with WinStar World Casino. It is the first-ever partnership between an NFL team and a casino.

Players will be able to place a wide range of bets, including live betting, moneyline, futures, props, parlay, totals, and other wagers.

College Sports Teams In Texas

Texas is a big state for college sports, especially football. It’s home to 12 Division I colleges, ranging from Texas A&M to Texas State University to Texas Tech. Each of these colleges fields numerous football, basketball, and baseball teams, all of which are popular options for sports betting enthusiasts.

On a cultural level, college sports are treated as a favorite pastime for Texans and a major source of professional and scholastic achievement. However, we’ll have to see how Texas’s future sports betting legislation treats college betting before making any predictions.

Some states have seriously limited collegiate sports betting for both in-state teams and any games that take place within state lines. That leaves collegiate betting for out-of-state teams and games only, which would be a major blow for Texas sports bettors.

But Texas may not impose these restrictions due to how popular college sports already are.

Can I Bet On Horse Racing In Texas?

Yes, horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering are legal in Texas. However, the state does not allow online or off-track betting. The Texas Racing Commission regulates all aspects of horse and greyhound racing activities to ensure the safety, integrity, and fairness of scheduled events and associated pari-mutuel wagering activities.

Tracks that host live horse racing in Texas include:

• Lone Star Park – Lone Star Park opened in 1997 and hosted the prestigious Breeders’ Cup World Championships in 2004. There is live racing for seven months of the year – from April through the middle of July, the track hosts Thoroughbred racing and from September into November, there is a shift to Quarter Horse racing. Lone Star features a Las Vegas-style Racebook and simulcast facility, Bar & Book, which features wagering on horse racing from around the world 7-days a week year-round.
• Sam Houston Park – Sam Houston opened in 1994 and is host to both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing with a stakes schedule for both breeds.
• Retama Park – From the middle of June through the middle of August, the track holds Quarter Horse races every Friday and Saturday. Then, from the beginning of September to the end of November, there are Thoroughbred races held on Friday and Saturday.

Other Popular Sports In Texas

In addition to professional and college sports for major American leagues, big sportsbooks that come to Texas will also allow you to place wagers on sports and leagues like:

• European soccer
• Aussie rules football
• Darts
• Cricket
• Rugby
• NASCAR
• Tennis
• MMA/UFC
• And more

How To Place A Bet In Texas

For now, players are not able to place any online bets in Texas whatsoever, ranging from sports bets to regular casino wagers. However, it will be helpful to know how you’ll be able to place a bet in Texas if and when online sports betting becomes a reality. Here’s the basic process.

Pick A Sportsbook

For starters, you’ll need to choose the online sportsbook you want to use. There will likely be at least a handful of sportsbook operators at launch, and these will likely be comprised of a handful of big companies like DraftKings and FanDuel.

Fortunately, these big sportsbook operators provide robust mobile sports betting experiences and high-quality opening bonuses. You should check out the best sports betting bonuses to determine which sportsbook best suits your wagering style and to take advantage of extra betting credit right off the bat.

However, you should also pay attention to how those bonuses are fulfilled. Some require promotional codes, while others have time limitations. Here’s more about sportsbook bonus terms and conditions.

Download The Sportsbook

Once you choose the sportsbook you want to use, you’ll need to download it. You can utilize the direct links on the sportsbook’s website, or search for it in the App Store for iOS users or the Google Play Store for Android users.

Geolocation software will also be installed to track your location and make sure you don’t place sports bets outside of Texas state lines.

Register For The Sportsbook

Next, you’ll need to register for the sportsbook you chose. Registration might have an in-person requirement component. In this case, you need to finish the registration process by visiting a retail casino partnered with your sportsbook pick.

If registration does not require in-person visits, you’ll need to provide contact and identifying information, such as phone number and address. You will likely have to provide a photocopy of your ID when you make your first withdrawal to verify your identity as well.

Fund Your Account

Most major sportsbooks allow you to fund your account in a variety of ways. Common deposit methods include credit and debit cards, direct bank links, PayPal or Skrill electronic wallet deposits, and ACH transfers. But each sportsbook has different account funding methods.

Here’s more on the best deposit methods for online sportsbooks.

Place A Wager

Once your account is funded, you’re all set. You can navigate through the app of your choice and place wagers on any upcoming or current sporting events.

More Resources On Texas Sports Betting

• Breakdown of sports betting revenue by state
• HB 1275, the bill for sports betting
• PASPA breakdown
• The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation, the potential regulator of future sports betting