Sports gambling remains illegal in Texas during big Super Bowl weekend

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Whether it’s betting on what the color of the Gatorade poured on the winning coach will be or whether Travis Kelce will propose to Taylor Swift, to the outcome of the big game itself, hundreds of thousands across the U.S. are expected to place countless Super Bowl-related bets over the weekend.

“Sports betting is just another way to stay involved and like, ‘hey, I gotta check the score,’ and sometimes you’re just checking a score to check it, it may not feel that great. But if you know well, I got $5 on the line, or $10 or more, it keeps you kind of invested in it,” said Benjamin Bets Podcast host Cory Dickman.

With the game just 3 days away, a record-breaking amount of people are expected to bet on the big game, but here in the state of Texas gambling is still illegal.

Despite gambling and sports betting now being legal in 38 states, Texas has stuck to its strict no gambling laws.

There are a few exceptions, such as the Texas lottery and some animal racing, but anything else could result in a fine or misdemeanor charge.

However in recent years, Texas Representative Doc Anderson says that efforts to legalize it have become more common.

“The big push is on sports gambling and then on the casino’s, the five locations they’ve identified for resort type casinos, and those are the one’s they’ve really put a lot of money into lobbying… and so we deal with it every session for the last four or five sessions,” according to Representative Anderson.

During the 2023 legislative session, the House passed a bill that would legalize online sports betting, but it failed to get passed by the Senate.

A big reason for why Texas has yet to legalize gambling is because of its connection to issues like mental health and addiction, but also uncertainty about how it would impact the state.

“I get it, they just don’t want it to get out of control and have it go down a bad road, but I do think Texas is getting close to legalizing sports betting,” Dickman shared.

But if you are interested in wagering money on this year’s big game in the state of Texas, the only way you can is by participating in daily fantasy sports games.