Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has joined the Texas Sports Betting Alliance as a spokesman.
Perry, who served as governor from 2000-2015, wants Texas to legalize mobile sports betting, releasing a video for the Sports Betting Alliance this week.
“Texas is built on the core principle of individual freedom, and we pride ourselves on being an economic powerhouse in the nation,” Perry said in the video. “Legalizing mobile sports betting in Texas will finally allow the state to protect consumers from illegal offshore betting sites while keeping the money generated from betting in Texas to benefit Texans.”
Perry said the state is losing out on substantial revenue because of Texans crossing state lines to place bets in Louisiana, one of 35 states where the practice is legal either online or in person.
“Texas continues to fall behind,” he said. “Neighboring states are already cashing in on Texans’ bets.”
Perry is just the latest prominent supporter of the Texas Sports Betting Alliance. The Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars, Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers, and FC Dallas are partners with the group.
Large sports websites like Bet MGM, Draft Kings, Fanduel, and Barstool Sportsbook also support the Sports Betting Alliance.
The alliance claims that once legal sports betting is passed and fully developed, Texas will collect up to $550 million per two-year budget cycle by taxing winnings.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones organized the alliance to push sports betting legislation during the last session in 2021. Two bills to legalize only sports gambling and two that would have allowed four casino resorts to be built in Austin, the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Houston, and San Antonio, were developed.
But the bills effectively died when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said sports gambling legislation would not “see the light of day” during the session. He and Gov. Greg Abbott have been reluctant to defy religious conservatives opposed to expanded gambling.
Rob Kohler, a consultant with the Christian Life Commission, said the risks of legal betting outweigh the benefits.
“We don’t think it’s a good idea to put sports betting on phones and expose their use,” he said. “The dots aren’t too far to connect that people can get in a lot of trouble financially.”
Kohler has been successfully lobbying against legal betting legislation for years on behalf of the Christian Life Commission.
“As a dad of three boys, there’s enough worry about what can happen and what access, and what they can do through these little devices,” Kohler told NBC 5.
Kohler stated he does not think mobile sports betting has a better chance to pass this year, even with support from the former governor.
“You don’t see folks that were running for the Texas House or the Texas Senate going to the rotary clubs and telling folks, ‘If you elect me I am going to go pass sports gambling,’” added Kohler.
Lawmakers will debate the issue again during next year’s legislative session, which begins January 10, as a bill to legalize mobile or online sports betting is reportedly being developed.
Before expanded gambling can become law, the Texas Constitution would need to be changed.
That means a majority of lawmakers in the House and Senate need to approve it before leaving it to voters in the state to decide in a referendum.
Perry said his message to state lawmakers is straightforward: “If they’re wise enough to place their faith in you with a vote for you, I think we should trust them to make the decision about this issue.”
The former governor noted that he once opposed sports betting but now supports it for the Lone Star State with oversight to protect consumers’ information from bad operators.
“We’re going to have people betting on sporting events in the State of Texas, and you know what I think. That’s okay. But it needs to be regulated,” the former governor said. “There needs to be oversight.”
