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SportsTranscript
00:00All right, so bad luck we learned this morning in the state of Minnesota, maybe some good
00:05luck coming from Texas.
00:06You know, Sam, I would not have predicted that Texas could legalize sports betting before
00:10the state of Minnesota, but it sure seems like there is at least a stronger possibility
00:14in Texas getting something on the bill with the results from Minnesota yesterday.
00:18Yeah, you want to talk about luck in a crapshoot, it's which state is going to legalize sports
00:23betting next.
00:24You know, one day you hear that Minnesota is close to doing it, then you hear that Texas
00:28is a state you think will never do it, is inching towards it as well.
00:31So Texas, you know, they introduced a bill this week which would allow the legislature
00:37to amend the state constitution to then legalize gambling.
00:42So essentially this would have to pass first the House, then the Senate, then it would
00:46go towards voters in November on the ballot, and they would get to essentially pick whether
00:51or not they want sports betting legalized.
00:53Now whenever sports betting has actually been able to get to the ballot in the state, it's
00:57usually passed.
00:58California is the only time it hasn't happened, and that was a very interesting, unique circumstance
01:03with the tribes and everything over there.
01:05But in Texas, this has been tried before.
01:07The legislature only meets in odd years, which is very strange, so that's been a big roadblock
01:12to getting this done.
01:14But beyond that, it's been the lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, who has pretty much
01:19said that he will not be in favor of any gambling expansion.
01:23And the reason that's important is because he presides over the Senate.
01:26He basically determines what gets a vote, what even the Senate gets to take up.
01:30So as of right now, he's very aligned with the religious kind of right-wing, Old South
01:35base in Texas that doesn't want gambling expansion.
01:40That could change, possibly.
01:41There was some speculation about whether he would be leaving, but as of right now, he's
01:45against it.
01:46So while this is a good kind of momentum, at least to bring the idea to the table, it's
01:51really going to take him turning around.
01:52But Texas has got a lot of attention as of late.
01:55The Adelmans obviously own the Dallas Mavericks now.
01:57They also own half of the publicly traded gambling companies, so they have a lot of
02:02influence and a lot of big reason to want sports betting legalized.
02:05Jerry Jones owns the Cowboys, has been a big proponent, as well as Mark Cuban, former owner
02:10of the Mavs.
02:12And we're really seeing the companies themselves focus on Texas as something they want to get
02:17over the finish line this year.
02:19But it's all going to come down to politics at the end of the day.
02:23The governor's in favor of it.
02:24They're getting more support, but unless the lieutenant governor changes his mind, it might
02:29be another uphill battle this year for Texas.