Texas is a sport-crazy state, with football, basketball, and baseball all hugely popular. But while millions of Texans cheer on the Cowboys, Mavericks, Astros, and Rangers each week, they’re frustrated by the state’s absence of legal sports betting options.
Here, we provide a comprehensive guide to the legal sports betting landscape in Texas. We explain the legality of sports betting and discuss some of the most recent attempts to change the laws.
We also consider the stance of key decision-makers in Texas and look to what potentially lies ahead for sports betting in the Lone Star State.
Is sports betting legal in Texas?
At the time of writing, sports betting is not legal under Texas law, as stated under Article 3, Section 47 of the Texas Constitution[1]. Following the US Supreme Court Ruling of 2018 that removed the federal ban on sports gambling, many Texans hoped their state would be one of the first to legalize sports betting, but no bill has yet been passed, though several attempts have been made.
Following that 2018 Supreme Court ruling, sports betting has been legalized in 39 states[2]Seven states have no legislation pending, while four have ongoing legislation or a ballot initiative. So, Texas is one of only 10 US states in which sports betting will be illegal in 2025, alongside California, Idaho, Utah, Alaska, Hawaii, Minnesota, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.
In Missouri, online sports betting is now legal but not yet operational.
Recent attempts to legalize sports betting in Texas
Texans are mixed in their position on legalized sports betting in the state. A growing minority wants a bill that legalizes online sports betting to pave the way for DraftKings and FanDuel to become legally available to Texans.
Several state legislative efforts have been attempted to legalize sports gambling in Texas. The first gained momentum in 2021 when Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones argued that the legalization of sports betting would lead to improved fan engagement and higher revenues for Texas’ sports teams[3].
In January 2021, the Texas state legislature met to discuss HB 1275, proposed by Representative Eddie Lucio III. However, by the end of May, the legislative session was closed, and no sports betting amendments had passed.
Fast-forward to November 2022, Senator Carol Alvarado pre-filed SRJ 17, a sports betting and casino bill, to get the issue of sports betting back on the agenda. Though polls suggested strong support for the bill, nothing came of it. The same is true of the bills proposed in February 2023.
At the start of 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced his support for legalized sports betting in the Lone Star State, signaling that this could be a big year for the industry.
In a February 2025 interview, the Governor said: “I don’t have a problem with online sports betting. The reality is that I’d be shocked if there were not some Texans that do it already.[4]”
While it remains to be seen whether Governor Abbott’s statement will yield any new developments in the House or Senate, Carol Alvarado and other key politicians in the Lone Star State are still pushing for the legalization of sports betting.
Given the filing of Joint Resolution 16 in November 2024, sports betting in Texas may first occur at “destination resorts” and then online[5].
After all, many senior politicians in Texas are pushing the income-generation argument, suggesting that legal sports betting would be worth billions of dollars in revenue to the state. Many also think it would remove the threat of unlicensed offshore gambling, which many Texans currently participate in.
Senator Alvarado, one of the most active supporters of sports betting legalization, recently said: “Texans love to gamble, they’re doing it every place else, but here.” On destination sports betting, she said: “This would be a real boost, I think, to our economy, creating thousands and thousands of jobs.”
So, how can you legally bet on sports in Texas in 2025?
Although sports betting remains illegal in Texas at the start of 2025, we see Governor Abbott’s announcement, alongside the numerous recent attempted bills, as steps in the right direction. We expect that, in the coming months or years, Texans will be legally permitted to gamble online within the state.
But for now, here are some of your options if you want to bet on sports in the Lone Star State legally:
Parimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting has been legal in Texas since 1933. It’s the only way to bet on sports legally in the Lone Star State. Rather than backing a horse or dog at fixed odds, parimutuel betting enables you to buy a ticket in support of one of the runners. If your selection wins, you will receive a payout based on the number of tickets sold.
All parimutuel betting in Texas is overseen and regulated by the Texas Racing Commission, with races held throughout the year at numerous tracks and venues. The biggest venues for parimutuel betting in Texas are Lone Star Park (Grand Prairie), Retama Park (Selma), and Sam Houston Race Park (Houston).
Sweepstakes online sportsbooks
Another option for Texans is to sign up for sweepstakes online sportsbooks rather than real money sites. Sweepstakes casinos and sportsbooks are not illegal in Texas and are a viable option if you want to participate in sports wagering within state lines.
These sites operate with two virtual currencies: game coins that you can use to place free bets and sweeps coins that you can use for promotional wagering. If you win your bets with sweeps coins, you can redeem a cash prize or gift card, provided you meet the minimum withdrawal threshold.
While there are more sweepstakes casinos than sportsbooks in the United States, numerous options are available for Texans. We highly rate Legendz Casino as the best social sportsbook, where you can bet on the NFL, NBA, and NHL directly from Texas.
Fliff is another decent online sportsbook, though it doesn’t offer as many markets as Legendz. You can also check out Sportzino and Rebet, both available today in Texas.
Even if you use game coins to bet for free, signing up for a social sportsbook is a great way to bet with your friends for fun. You can also practice and familiarize yourself with sports betting strategies while waiting for sports betting to become legal in Texas.
Sports betting in neighboring states
Sports betting might be illegal in Texas but legal in Louisiana, Arkansas, and New Mexico. While Arkansas and New Mexico have legalized retail and in-person wagering, Louisiana has rolled out online sports betting options throughout the Bayou State.
Many Texans point to the popularity and success of sports betting in Louisiana as evidence of what the Lone Star State is missing out on. BetMGM, FanDuel, bet365, Caesars, DraftKings, and Fanatics all operate legal sportsbooks in LA.
Since January 2022, LA residents 21 and over have been permitted to use mobile sportsbooks to place bets throughout the state. Betting on college and professional sports is legal throughout LA, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenue each quarter.
If you live close to Louisiana or regularly work in the state, traveling across the border is a legal and viable way to participate in sports betting in 2025. However, given Governor Abbott’s recent comments, we may see an LA-style adaptation of legal sports betting in Texas in the coming years.
The best sportsbooks for legal sports betting in Texas
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While Texas still has a long way to go before legalizing sports betting, we expect FanDuel, DraftKings, Fanatics, and BetMGM to enter the market as soon as it’s legal.
In May 2024, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins admitted that his firm was “gearing up for 2025,” with genuine hopes of launching in the Lone Star State this year[6].
He said: “I think Texas has a real shot. (A bill) got through one chamber last year (2023). The Texas legislature doesn’t meet in 2024, so we’re really gearing up for 2025.”
There are several hurdles to climb, but we’re hopeful that sports betting could be legalized in Texas in the near future. Whether that’s in 2025, as Robins predicts, remains to be seen.
The verdict: Is sports betting legal in Texas?
In summary, real-money online sports betting is illegal in Texas in 2025, despite numerous recent efforts to push bills through the Senate. However, with support from Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Senator Carol Alvarado, we may see progress in 2025 or 2026.
In the meantime, Texans can gamble at parimutuel venues in the Lone Star State and have access to social sweepstakes sportsbooks, which offer virtual currency for sports betting. Another option is to gamble in the neighboring states, such as Louisiana, where online betting is legal.
Keep checking back on this page throughout 2025. If there are any significant changes, we’ll provide the updates and explain where you can legally bet in Texas online.
[1] http://guides.sll.texas.gov/gambling/sports-gambling
[2] https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/
[3] https://hudsonreporter.com/news/texas-betting-legalization/
[4] https://www.chron.com/culture/article/sports-betting-gambling-texas-greg-abbott-20146709.php
[5] https://www.kwtx.com/2025/02/03/betting-texas-state-lawmaker-hopes-legalizing-gambling-sports-betting-will-create-billion-dollar-industry-increase-tax-revenue/
[6] https://www.covers.com/industry/draftkings-ceo-eyes-bringing-sports-betting-to-texas-in-2025