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Sports Mogul Keen to See Sports Betting Legalized in Texas

By Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief Updated: 25 January 2023

Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief

Blake Roberts is the founder of Betting.US and is currently heading the creative team as Editor in Chief. Born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, Blake is a great sports fan, with football and basketball being his favorite. He’s our trusted voice for all betting-related matters.

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According to recent reports, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, is eager to see the legalization of sports betting in Texas. He has spoken about the many benefits that the state could look forward to by taking this step and added that sports betting was already taking place in Texas without being regulated.

Jones spoke about the legalization of sports betting in Texas in a recent radio interview on K&C Masterpiece on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM], and his comments came shortly after Dade Phelan, the Texas House Speaker, voiced his support for casino resorts in Texas. Jones spoke about the range of potential benefits for the state in his interview and said that sports betting was something that needed to now be seriously considered.

Helping to Combat Illegal Betting

One of the things that Jones was clear about in the interview was that people in the state were already betting illegally and that legalizing sports betting would eliminate a lot of these issues. It would give bettors protection and the ability to place bets on regulated platforms, and it would mean more money for the state. He said:

Well, I think it’s really a thing that needs to be addressed at this time. One of the reasons why I think it does is because it’s happening at this time. There’s a huge amount of gaming going on in and around sports at this time.

Jones added that in order to enjoy the benefits and get some control over sports betting in Texas, the state needed to regulate and legalize it. He has been in support of legalizing sports betting for some time, and back in 2021 he said that this move was ‘inevitable’.

Others Also Support Legalization of Sports Betting

Jones is just one of a number of team owners to throw their support behind the legalization of sports betting in the state. This is something that has also been mirrored by the Dallas Mavericks and the Texas Rangers. Many also believe that Tilman Fertitta, the owner of the Houston Rockets, will support the move as well, as he is also the boss of the Golden Nugget.

In his interview, Jones spoke about the many benefits that other states have been enjoying as a result of making sports betting legal. He said that it was now time for Texas to start enjoying the same benefits.

He added that the tax dollars that legalized sports betting could bring in would help to support education and property tax relief, among other things. In addition, it would help to stamp out black market sports betting in the state, which he said had become a huge problem and did not benefit the state in any way.

Former governor Rick Perry is now a spokesperson for the Sports Betting Alliance. He previously claimed that regulating sports betting in the state could bring in tax revenues of $250 million. He based this on figures suggesting that the estimated black market sports betting handle was $8.7 billion.