Texas Sports Betting 2025 — Latest Texas Legal News
Texas sports betting is not legal, and Texans will have to wait for that to change. As the Texas Legislature meets every two years, 2025 is the next opportunity for legalization after a big push during the 2023 session. The current session is not looking promising.
The Texas sports betting market would instantly become one of the most lucrative in the United States if it becomes legal, and there is a sizable group of influential supporters in the state — including several major sports teams — who have voiced their support for legalization.
Read below for the latest updates on Texas sports betting news and a look at the future of betting in the state.
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DFS pick’em and social sportsbooks in Texas in March 2025
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Is sports betting legal in Texas?
Right now, there is no legal sports betting in Texas. After HB 1942 made it through the House during the 2023 legislative session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the bill would not receive consideration from the Senate. Patrick’s stance effectively ended any hope for legal sports betting in the state in 2023. The session adjourned on May 29, and the next session will not take place until 2025.
The status of Texas sports betting
While it’s not legal to bet on sports in Texas, the state has seen some recent movement toward legalizing the activity. Sports betting bill HB 1942 was introduced during the Texas legislature on Feb. 6, 2023, and had the backing of major sports teams in the state.
A resolution proposing a constitutional amendment (HJR 102), which would have placed the question of legalizing sports betting on the ballot in November, passed through the House with a 100-43 vote during the 2023 session. However, Patrick exercised his power as president of the Senate in Texas to stop the resolution before the Senate could vote on it despite bipartisan support for HJR 102 as well as HB 1942 in the House. Patrick claimed to have taken the pulse of Senators before throwing cold water on the issue. “We don’t waste time on bills without overwhelming GOP support,” he tweeted.
Texas continues to become a more bipartisan location as the years go by, and the dominance of the conservative pushback to gambling may eventually fade. However, Republicans hold small majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives following the November 2022 election. The governor and lieutenant governor of Texas are also Republicans, and Gov. Greg Abbott has previously opposed legal sports betting.
Texas politicians also receive substantial contributions from out-of-state casino interests. For instance, the Chickasaw Nation, which owns WinStar World Casino in Oklahoma (located roughly an hour north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex), has donated more than $15 million to political interests over the years — many of them in Texas.
In the meantime, professional sports teams, including the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks, and Texas Rangers, could become partners with online sportsbooks and have voiced their support for legalization. Austin FC of Major League Soccer announced a deal with PointsBet in September 2021. In 2022, Fubo Gaming (Fubo Sportsbook) partnered with the Houston Dynamo, the Houston Astros partnered with BetMGM, and Rush Street (BetRivers) joined forces with the Frisco Fighters. The Dallas Stars are also partnered with both PrizePicks and Jackpocket (owned by DraftKings).
There also appears to be considerable interest from Texans themselves in legalizing sports betting, as a poll conducted during the 2021 legislative session found that 43% of Texans favor allowing sports betting in the state, and another 31% were ambivalent about the issue. Only 26% were outright opposed to it. Those numbers were consistent across party lines.
Three states bordering Texas also have legal sports betting — which could pressure Texas legislators. New Mexico has retail sportsbooks available at a few tribal casinos, Arkansas sports betting is legal statewide, and Louisiana sports betting is available online alongside several in-person sportsbooks.
When will online sports betting launch in Texas?
At this point, it is unclear when or if online sports betting promos will be coming to Texas. If made legal, online sports betting would likely be part of a more extensive sports betting legislative expansion before offering Texas sportsbook promos. The earliest that could happen now is 2025, as the Texas Legislature only meets in odd-numbered years.
What’s happening in Texas sports betting right now
- March 14, 2025 — Texas Sports Betting Bills ‘Dead On Arrival’ In House. A dozen Texas House GOP members came out this week to say they would oppose “any attempt to expand gambling” this session, according to the Texas Tribune.
- November 13, 2024 — According to PlayTexas, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said, “I might have three or four Senators out of 20 Republicans who support it, that’s it” in regards to legalizing sports betting.
- Oct. 10, 2024 — According to PlayTexas, FanDuel is actively lobbying for legal sports betting in Texas. The operator is also focused on Florida and California.
- Oct. 2, 2024 — West Texas A&M University has instituted a gambling ban by blocking access to all betting-related websites on the school’s wifi or on school-owned devices.
- Sept. 26, 2024 — The Dallas Cowboys take on the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football in Week 4. See the latest Week 4 odds here.
- Aug. 28, 2024 — According to PlayTexas, advisory firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming predicted Texas sports betting would launch in 2028 or later.
Texas sports betting bills
Gambling proposals are nothing new for the Texas Legislature. However, except for lottery initiatives and horse racing measures, none of them have made it out of committee.
With regard to sports betting, the presence of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act negated the need for any bills for more than 20 years. With the fall of PASPA in 2018, Texas lawmakers have been more emboldened to propose sports betting bills. Curiously, though, a short proposal did appear in the 2015 session, albeit without much effect.
Here is a recent history of sports betting bills the Texas Legislature has considered:
- HB 1942 (2023)
- HJR 97 (2021)
- HB 2070 (2021)
- HJR 68 (2021)
- SB 736 (2021)
- HB 1121 (2021)
- HJR 61 (2019)
- HB 4040 (2015)
Legal betting options in Texas
Texas is a large state with an estimated population of 29.5 million. While the state is limited in its legal forms of gambling and betting, it is not completely devoid of options. Here is a breakdown of what is legal (or illegal) in Texas.
Sports betting
Currently, you cannot legally bet on sports in Texas.
While some websites and apps may say that they accept bets from anywhere in the United States, such websites are operating from locations outside the country. Since there’s no US jurisdiction licensing these sportsbooks, there’s no guarantee US bettors will receive payouts for winning bets. Some offshore sportsbooks have also closed operations without returning customer funds.
Casino gambling
Texas online casinos are not legal. The only casino-like options are two tribal facilities in the state. The Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas has the only true casino in Texas, and its location in Eagle Pass (along the border with Mexico) renders it inconvenient for most people in the state.
The other location is Naskila Gaming, an electronic bingo parlor located on the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe’s reservation near Livingston, Texas. This venue is the second attempt by the tribe to offer casino games on tribal grounds, and it has been under legal threat from the state of Texas since its debut in 2016.
It scored a major victory in federal court that goes a long way toward legitimizing the facility, but tribal leaders are already gearing up for an appeal from the state. The win could have an effect on gambling in Texas, as a third tribe — the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo — has been attempting to run its own venue in the El Paso area for many years.
Texas Lottery
The main form of state-approved gambling is the Texas Lottery. Like many state lotteries, the agency offers both draw games and scratchers. The draw games include both Texas-only drawings and multistate games like Mega Millions and Powerball. There are no options for internet purchases — the lottery app only allows you to check your tickets and find retailers.
Horse betting
Horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering are legal in Texas. You must place any bets on site at one of the tracks in the state. Live races will generally avoid the extremes of Texas weather. However, many tracks do offer simulcast racing and wagering year-round. Racetrack/simulcast facilities in Texas include the following:
- Gillespie County Fair and Festivals, Fredericksburg
- Lone Star Park, Grand Prairie
- Retama Park, Selma
- Sam Houston Race Park, Houston
Greyhound racing is still technically legal in Texas, but there are no locations with active racing in the state. A few facilities do offer the option to bet on simulcast greyhound races around the country, but concerns about humane treatment of the dogs remain an issue for greyhound racing as an institution in the US.
Poker games
Finally, Texas is now home to many standalone poker clubs. If you’re wondering how this is possible, the clubs have figured out a way to tiptoe around the explicit exceptions to Texas gambling law. Poker is illegal under Texas law, but there are three conditions that, together, constitute a defense to prosecution. Essentially, the game must be in a private location, the players must all have an equal chance of winning, and no one outside of the game can profit from it. The clubs’ model is to charge for membership fees and time instead of raking the pots.
So far, the Texas attorney general has declined to issue an opinion on the clubs’ legality and whether their dance through these defenses is valid. Recently, a state representative issued a new request for an opinion on the issue, so the matter is still not settled. But for now, Texas poker players can find places to play.
Texas DFS pick’em and social sportsbooks
At the moment, fantasy sports contests are in legal limbo in Texas. Before 2016, almost all DFS platforms allowed users to play for real money at their sites. That all changed when Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion that said, in part:
“Under section 47.02 of the Penal Code, a person commits an offense if he or she makes a bet on the partial or final result of a game or contest or on the performance of a participant in a game or contest. Because the outcome of games in daily fantasy sports leagues depends partially on chance, an individual’s payment of a fee to participate in such activities is a bet. Accordingly, a court would likely determine that participation in daily fantasy sports leagues is illegal gambling ‘under section 47.02 of the Penal Code.”
While DraftKings and FanDuel initially released statements saying they disagreed with that opinion, things were quiet in the short term. Then came the revelation in March 2016 that FanDuel had been working on a settlement with Paxton to take down its DFS product in the state; DraftKings decided to go its own way and fight the opinion in court.
The legal battle that ensued between DraftKings and the state has held the billion-dollar industry in limbo, and daily fantasy and social sportsbooks have continued to operate in the meantime. That includes FanDuel, which brought its DFS platform back to the state in 2018.
Multiple attempts to legalize DFS with new laws in recent years have failed. Below are some of the daily fantasy sports platforms and social sportsbooks available now in Texas:
DraftKings Pick6
Traditional online sports betting is not available in the Lone Star Star but since December 2023, DraftKings Pick6 has offered Texans the opportunity to bet on a wide range of player props with this DFS-style platform.
It all starts with a generous DraftKings Pick6 bonus of $50 in bonus credits following the new player opting into the welcome promotion and spending $5 on a pick set. To get started, download the Pick6 app and sign up with promo code LSR6.
Similar to Daily Fantasy Sites such as Underdog DFS, Betr Picks and Fliff Social sportsbook platform, DraftKings Pick6 in Texas offers plenty of player props across several professional (NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL) leagues as well as the UFC, PGA Tour, and NASCAR along with college football and basketball.
DraftKings Pick6 pick sets (or lineups) must be with 2-6 player props in which the bettor selects Over or Under a statistical line. One major difference between Pick6 and other DFS platforms is that rather than playing against the house with your entry, DraftKings Pick6 is a skill-based peer-to-peer fantasy game that pits you against other sports fans. DraftKings will automatically enter your lineups into available contests with hundreds of other users and if you get enough picks right, you qualify for a share of cash prizes.
Once the lineup is created, a $10 entry fee is required to play before DraftKings enters you into 10 contests (all $1 each), but the maximum amount that can be spent on distribution is $150. Estimated prizes will appear below the entry fee to indicate what you might receive if you finish near the top of the leaderboard in contests.
Fliff Texas
Fliff is a social sportsbook that offers free-to-play and paid contests. Users who have experience with traditional sports betting apps will notice that Fliff’s interface is similar to that of a regular book. Users can compete against one another by making picks and can track people’s selections by “following” each other like they would on social media. As users make more predictions, they can earn “Fliff Coins,” which do not have any cash value, and “Fliff Cash,” which allows users to redeem winnings for cash prizes at a rate of 1:1.
PrizePicks Texas
Instead of drafting a team under a salary cap, PrizePicks users select “more” or “less” on player stat lines provided by the app. Users must pick between two and six different stats; the odds get longer as the number of selections increases. There are two types of contests at PrizePicks, Flex Play and Power Play, and both use the same concept outlined above. With Flex Play, your payout depends on how many of your selections you get correct (three out of four versus two out of three, etc.). With Power Play, you must get all your picks correct to receive a payout.
Underdog Texas
One of the most popular fantasy companies nationwide, Underdog offers two main types of contests: draft and pick’em.
With draft contests, users pick their team in a snake draft format and then watch how their players perform. Underdog uses a best-ball format for these contests, meaning users don’t interact with their teams in any way once they’ve completed the draft. Contests can be as short as one day and as long as the entire season. Either way, the app automatically selects each team’s highest-scoring players to make up the starting lineup, and the winner is the team with the most cumulative points at the end of the contest.
With pick’em contests, users either select an over/under on one player’s stat line or pick between two players on one stat.
Betr Picks Texas
Betr Picks provides contests similar to Underdog’s pick’em option. Users select either “yes” or “no” on whether a player will exceed the stat that the app has listed. As with PrizePicks, the payout increases as the number of correct selections increases. Users select between two and eight stats and must get all their picks correct to receive a payout.
ParlayPlay Texas
Another in the string of platforms with pick’em-style contests, ParlayPlay offers both paid and free-to-play modes. True to the company name, ParlayPlay’s Pick’M contests involve making multiple “more”/“less” picks. Users can either play “all in” or “insured.” The first option is closer to a parlay at a traditional online sportsbook — you only receive a payout if you get all of your picks correct. The second option offers a lower potential payout, but you can still win some money if not all of your picks turn out to be right. “Hit It” contests, meanwhile, involve trying to correctly predict a stat range for two players in a particular sporting event.
Popular sports to bet on in Texas
Given Texas’ second overall rank in population and size among US states, there’s no surprise that it has 11 professional sports teams in various major leagues — three NBA teams, two NFL teams, two MLB teams, two MLS teams, a WNBA team and a National Women’s Soccer League team.
NFL betting in Texas
The Dallas Cowboys have one of the largest NFL fanbases around the country, including plenty of support throughout the state. Their home, AT&T Stadium, could also become one of the largest sportsbooks in the world if the state ever allows sports betting in a team’s stadium.
Texas also has the Houston Texans, which debuted in 2002 to fill the gap left by the Oilers, which moved to Tennessee.
NBA betting in Texas
Basketball betting would also likely be popular given the state’s three professional NBA squads.
The teams have varying levels of popularity throughout the state. The San Antonio Spurs have been the least flashy Texas basketball team over the years but have five championships to their name, the most recent coming in 2015.
The Dallas Mavericks, led by outspoken owner Mark Cuban, won their only title in 2011.
There could be some issues down the line concerning betting on the Houston Rockets, especially if they have their own sportsbook operation. That’s because owner Tilman Fertitta owns a gambling empire of his own.
MLB betting in Texas
Two Major League baseball teams call Texas home. The Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers both compete in the American League.
The Astros have been the more successful baseball team in recent years, with a World Series win in 2017 and World Series appearances in 2019 and 2021. Regardless of the cloud of controversy surrounding the 2017 championship, there’s no denying that the Houston team has been the hotter of the Lone Star State’s top ballclubs.
However, the Rangers are the reigning champs following a five-game victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 World Series.
NCAA betting in Texas
Betting on college sports will get plenty of attention should Texas ever allow NCAA betting.
Some schools that routinely appear in NCAA postseason games include the Baylor Bears, TCU Horned Frogs, Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M Aggies, and Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Golf betting in Texas
The Longhorn State is home to a number of PGA events, including the Valero Texas Open and the AT&T Byron Nelson. Additionally, the infamous WGC Match Play event has been held at the Austin Country Club, which held its last event in March 2023. Two of the top players in the PGA, Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth, played at the University of Texas.
Texas sports betting FAQ
The enabling legislation would likely call for the creation of a regulatory board to oversee Texas sports betting, though it could also select the Texas Lottery to regulate sports betting.
There appears to be no problem for people who want to take part in DFS contests in the state.
The various forms of gambling in Texas typically require patrons to be 18 or older. However, the lone full-service casino — a tribal location in Eagle Pass — requires customers to be 21 or older. The most recent attempt to legalize sports betting also specified that bettors would need to be 21 or older.
No. Since all betting is currently illegal in Texas, mobile sports betting is not legal in the state. Any sportsbook offering to take bets from a bettor within Texas’ border is likely operating from an offshore location. These unregulated platforms are risky for US bettors because there’s no guarantee that they will pay out winning bets.