Despite the fact that the state of Texas does not have commercial casinos, it seems the state has weighed in on the ability for individual states in the US to decide on what gambling they will be able to offer. The Texas Attorney General recently stated that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act from 1992, or PASPA, needs to be done away with.
The American Sports Betting Coalition reported the feelings of Ken Paxton, the Attorney General for the state of Texas, who stated that the federal legislation is unconstitutional and ‘tramples on state sovereignty’. According to the AG, with PASPA being done away with, states would have the ability to decide if they want to offer sports betting in a regulated setting or not.
It is interesting to see the AG agree with the repealing of PASPA especially since the state does not offer commercial gaming and that the fact that he stated in January of last year that daily fantasy sports contests were in violation of state gambling laws.
In the state of Texas, the only gambling currently on offer includes pari-mutuel venues, bingo halls, state owned lottery gaming and tribal casinos. If the PASPA legislation were to be overturned, it is not clear as to if the state would become invested in offering sports gaming. One could bet that they wouldn’t but who knows?
For now, Texas is one of close to 20 states that is in support of a repeal regarding the PASPA legislation. We will have to wait until next year to see if the United States Supreme Court decides to rule in favor of New Jersey in a current sports betting case and if PASPA will be overturned. If it is repealed, several states including NJ, will already be set up to offer sports betting options.
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