The Adelson family of Las Vegas purchased the Dallas Mavericks with the hopes of expanding their gambling empire beyond Nevada to the Lone Star State.
Now their company, casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp., is backing a petition to legalize gambling by the Texas Destination Resort Alliance. The Texas Destination Resort Alliances was established and paid for by Sands in 2021, according to the coalition’s website.
It’s not the first time Miriam Adelson and Sands have lobbied for legalizing gambling in the U.S. Her company has spent $70.5 million on federal campaigns since 1992. Sands also previously said it would pay its lobbyists up to $5.9 million in 2023.
Building a loyal group of gambling advocates is the coalition’s primary goal, the website says. The Texas Destination Resort Alliance did not respond to multiple interview requests over email from The Dallas Morning News.
“Our coalition is working to gather statewide support for an amendment to the Texas Constitution to allow for new luxury, destination resorts, right in our own backyard,” the coalition says. “We’re also advocating for casino options at current racing tracks throughout Texas and new gaming projects on federally recognized Native American reservations.”
Unlike other states that have voter initiatives and referendums, the Texas Destination Resort Alliance’s petition is only a show of support without any legal authority. In Texas, the only way to get an amendment on the ballot is to have the Legislature propose the amendment in a joint resolution in the Texas House and Senate.
The coalition says legalized gambling in Texas will create thousands of temporary and permanent jobs, establish state-of-the-art venues and resorts and create economic wealth for the state while funding schools and public services.
Based off a report from Irvine, Calif.-based Eilers & Krejcik Gaming Consulting and Market Research, the Texas Sports Betting Alliance estimates over $8 billion in Texas is illegally bet annually. Eilers & Krejcik Gaming has a venture firm that invests in various gaming platforms and companies.
Texans spend around $5 billion yearly in legal gambling states like Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Nevada, according to another estimate.
Plans for legal gambling in Texas heated up in 2018 after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports gambling. Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban and Sands officials have said they’d like to build a new arena for the team in downtown Dallas that can incorporate a casino resort.
Despite Cuban’s desire to keep the team in downtown Dallas, it’s possible the arena and casino resort could be in Irving as an entity tied to Sands bought 108 acres near the area that was home to the Dallas Cowboys between 1971 and 2008.
Some 75% of Texans are already in favor of legalizing gambling, according to a poll from the University of Houston. The Texas Destination Resort Alliance petition is part of the bigger fight in the coming months and years to push legalization across the finish line in Austin, said Alan Feldman, a distinguished fellow at the University of Las Vegas International Gaming Institute.
“I think working with this coalition is going to help frame the debate and the objective behind legalization,” he said. “It takes a lot of time to pass this kind of legislation, but they [Sands] are already off to a good start in talking about how these resorts can be used as a means to predict other economic activity.”
Sands has lobbied in the past to legalize gambling in states like New York and New Jersey, but Texas is a focus now.
Adelson has spent over $4 million to support lawmakers like state Reps. Dade Phelan and John Kuempel, who are in favor of gambling legalization, according to Transparency USA, an organization that collects data on political contributions. She spent another $1 million to support Gov. Greg Abbott’s reelection campaign in 2022.
The company has 104 lobbyists in Texas, according to data from the Texas Ethics Commission, up from 76 lobbyists in 2021.
Kuempel was a sponsor for House Bill 2843, a 2023 bill that would have authorized casino gambling in Texas and allowed the state to begin regulating the industry by having companies pay for licenses. Because it’s a constitutional amendment, it would require voter approval.
Historically, efforts to legalize gambling have not made it far. Most recently, the Texas House rejected a bill from Rep. Charlie Geren to allow casinos to operate in the state. The Texas Senate shut down an online sports betting bill that narrowly passed the House in the last session.
Kuempel postponed the vote on House Bill 2843 until Nov. 29, 2023, which was six months after the legislative session ended. It essentially killed the bill before the House or Senate had a chance to vote on it.
Though some like Dallas City Council member Chad West believe gambling in Texas is coming, others think efforts have a long way to go. Will Hartnett, a former lawmaker in the House, has long been against gambling and thinks current efforts still lack the necessities to make it beneficial for Texas, he said.
Under HB 2843, applicants for a casino license fee in Texas would have to pay up to $2.5 million depending on the location. In other states like Massachusetts, an initial license fee is approximately $85 million. That means Texas is potentially losing out on millions in additional revenue, Hartnett said.
“This [HB 2843] is the worst constitutional amendment I’ve seen in 50 years. This amendment effectively gives away casino licenses that are worth billions of dollars to handpicked insiders for cheap,” Hartnett said. “In general, I think it’s a terrible way to raise money. But it’s especially bad because the state treasury will be cheated out of money that can go into helping people.”
Kuempel and other HB 2843 sponsors such as Reps. Toni Rose, Yvonne Davis and J.M. Lozano did not respond to multiple interview requests over email from The News.
The gains a casino could bring to the state could be massive, Feldman said.
“I think it could be a really powerful economic driver. People might worry and say it will bring devastation and all kinds of problems, but I don’t think it will,” he said. “Sometimes, I think Dallas sort of punches above their weight as a travel destination. But legalization could help elevate Dallas to the next tier of big cities and bring with it lots of benefits.”
