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Texas may be among the next states to regulate online sports betting. Or is it just a pipe dream?
For now - and for the better part of two decades - those in Texas have relied on sportsbook sites licensed in international jurisdictions or local PPH bookmakers to place all their sports bets. Daily Fantasy Sports and contests sites like PrizePicks offer a limited player prop parlay type option for Texan gamblers as well.
According to GeoComply, a geolocation compliance, fraud and identity technology service, Texans made 1.48 million attempts in November alone to log into sportsbooks in other states, likely a result of heavy advertising by US-based sportsbook companies like DraftKings and FanDuel. Their commercials still air throughout Texas.
Regulation allows for more oversight, wagering via apps and a more extensive array of payment options, though both international and local bookies do still offer betting via credit cards and cryptocurrencies. The latter is not available at any of the regulated sportsbooks.
While the sports leagues and a good number of gamblers may want sports betting to be regulated, most of the Republicans do not. We should also note that states like Colorado and, more recently, Missouri have just barely gotten sports betting legislation approved through voter referendums. A similar effort in California failed.
Texas is less gambling-friendly that California, we should add.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has been an outspoken critic of sports betting, preventing passage of proposed legislation in the Senate last year.
Governor Greg Abbott recently said he is not against gambling on sports in Texas.
“I don’t have a problem with online sports betting,” Abbott said. “The reality is I’d be shocked if there were not some Texans that already do it.”
Patrick, however, is viewed as more politically influential than Abbott by some.
The American sports betting industry earned revenues of $13.7 billion in 2024, and that's just counting the regulated market.
Among the more prominent intenationally-licensed, or offshore sportsbooks, Skybook has been taking bets in the US since 1997 while AcePerHead offers its platform to independent bookmakers and agents for well over a decade now.
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