This week, Jerry Jones, the owner of Dallas Cowboys boys, revealed that one day, gambling would be legalized in Texas. That comes after a report that sports betting will be up and running soon in neighboring Louisiana.
In his statement on KTCK-AM, Jones said that wagering is already taking place in the Lone Star State. He further added that legalizing it looks to be only a matter of time. Jones said:
“I certainly know that gambling as it pertains to our games is here. Frankly, it’s been here. The handwriting on the wall. Gambling has been here a long time.”
However, any effort to legalize sports wagering in Texas could take some years before perceiving reality. Texas is the second-most densely populated state after California.
This year, a bipartisan legislative effort to legalize casinos and sports betting in the Texas Legislature crashed. Unfortunately, legislators won’t meet again at the Austin Capitol until 2023. Even if lawmakers approve a sports wagering bill, public participation must be held under the state constitution. According to Chicago Tribune analysis, the earliest time to have a referendum would be in 2024, which means legal sports betting will not occur until earlier 2025.
As Texas tries to attain a gambling agreement, one of its next-door, Louisiana, legalized it this summer. But before anyone can place a bet in the states where the bill was approved, the Gaming Control Board has to develop a set of rules to regulate the industry. Some hope that it might happen before football season this summer, while others say sports wagering in Louisiana won’t be up and running until the early coming year.
Sport betting partnerships
Jones, a 78-year-old and a former football player at Arkansas University, has already aligned the Cowboys with sports wagering interests. According to the Dallas Morning News, the team already has an agreement with the Texas Lottery to put the Cowboys logo lottery tickets.
Jones and New England Patriots founder Robert Kraft has a stake in a privately operated firm, Boston-based Draftings, which offers online sports betting.
Early 2018, the Cowboys partnered with WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla. The resort is located on Interstate 35, north of the Texas border. The Dallas Morning News reported that, under the union, WinStar World could operate with the Cowboys team logo and name in marketing and advertising. The Cowboys were the initial team to get into a casino partnership.
Tony Romo’s commentary
To enhance the gambling experience, Jones said that television analysts such as Tony Romo have to offer insights. Romo is a Cowboy’s former captain currently offering color commentary in the CBS pro football broadcasts. Romo has been praised for his ability to anatomize complex gameplay in an intelligible way.
On a radio station, Jones said:
“Watch how Romo does a telecast.” “Watch him sit there and say and use the vernacular that he uses. Talks about how the safety’s too close to the hash, or how the corner’s too far in the middle, or over on the harsh. And he will say the quarterback will see that, and you will see the ball going in that direction to that guy right there.”
In his statement, he stated that he could oversee millions of people placing bets based on that kind of analysis.
“I can see our game enhanced tremendously by that aspect of it,” he said.
The Cowboys will unlock their preseason games on August 5 in the Fame Game Hall against the Pittsburg Steelers at Canton, Ohio. However, their regular season starts on Thursday, September 9, in Tampa Bay against the Buccaneers.
Last Updated on by Ryan
