Texas Democratic sweep revives prospects for legal sports betting
Gambling stocks rallied after Democrats Vikki Goodwin and Gina Hinojosa won Texas's top offices, reopening a debate on mobile wagering that stalled under outgoing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Shares of sports betting companies traded broadly higher on Tuesday as investors reacted to midterm election results in Texas, according to Casino.org News.
Democrats Gina Hinojosa and Vikki Goodwin defeated Republican incumbents Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a result that Casino.org News said has sparked hopes the state could put online sports wagering back on its legislative agenda.
Texas carries outsized weight for the gaming industry because other large untapped markets look harder to reach. Commercial operators' ties with California's tribal casino groups have broken down and a sports betting ballot initiative there is not expected before 2028, while the Seminole Tribe's monopoly on internet wagering effectively closes off Florida. That leaves Texas as what Casino.org News described as the industry's golden goose.
Goodwin's win is being read as the more consequential of the two for gaming policy. The lieutenant governor in Texas sets the Senate's agenda and wields unusual influence over which bills reach a vote. In 2024 the Texas House passed a mobile sports wagering bill, but it stalled in the Senate because of Patrick's opposition to gambling expansion.
Goodwin has backed letting Texas voters decide on both iGaming and mobile sports wagering, framing her position around freedom of choice. Polling cited by Casino.org News points to bipartisan voter support for legal online sports betting in the state.
Any such move still faces a high bar. Under the Texas constitution, gaming expansion legislation needs two-thirds majorities in both legislative chambers, which remain under Republican control, before the question can go to voters. Hinojosa, who now holds the governor's office, has said little publicly on gambling policy but opposed a 2023 sports wagering amendment.
The election result has also fuelled speculation that Texas could move against prediction markets, the yes/no event contracts operating in the state largely outside gaming regulation. Casino.org News reported industry chatter suggesting some states without legal sports betting are frustrated that these exchanges avoid gaming taxes and oversight, which could push lawmakers toward legalising wagering while cracking down on prediction markets. A similar dynamic is being watched in Georgia, where neither sports betting nor prediction markets are formally sanctioned but operators lean on the state's name in their marketing.
Oklahoma could factor into the picture too. Casino.org News said Texas's neighbour might revisit sports wagering if Austin acts, and pointed to comments from Republican Governor-elect Mike Mazzei, who said during his campaign that he wants to rebuild relationships with tribal casino operators strained under Governor Kevin Stitt. A friendlier tone from Mazzei could eventually open a path for Oklahoma tribes to offer internet sports wagering of their own.