The push to legalize mobile sports betting in Texas took another step Monday with the debut of new legislation carried by republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst.
Kolkhorst’s relationship with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is expected to give it a chance at succeeding after a previous sports betting bill failed to gain traction in 2021 despite the support of some Texas heavy hitters, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Houston Astros owner Jim Crane.
The two team owners again voiced their support to legalize mobile betting in a statement Monday from the Texas Sports Betting Alliance, each boasting the safety of a regulated market.
Astros owner Jim Crane and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones issue statements in support of legalizing mobile sports betting in Texas, via Texas Sports Betting Alliance. pic.twitter.com/xyxgLBYCV3
— Brian T. Smith (@ChronBrianSmith) February 6, 2023
However, not everyone is back on board.
An unlikely new opponent of legalizing sports betting in Texas is perhaps the state’s most notorious sports bettor, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale.
In 2021, McIngvale went so far as to write an opinion piece for the Houston Chronicle about why it was time to legalize betting in Texas. But he’s since had a change of heart, telling the Chronicle the travel required for him to place bets puts a limit on his impulses to do so. He also said he’s concerned the revenue estimates are overblown.
“My change of heart is that I know myself and I’ve seen the light as far as
impulsiveness on me to sports gambling,” said McIngvale, who won the largest payout in U.S. sports betting history last year when the Astros won the World Series. “Because I’ve got to drive to Louisiana, it limits those impulses by a factor of 1,000. So I’m not in favor of sports gambling in Texas.”
Who saw that coming?
