Dallas Officials Plan to Explore Potential Impact of Texas Casinos and Destination Resorts

What type of an impact would Texas casinos and destination resorts have on the region? Officials in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are reportedly ready to investigate the matter.

This is yet another example of how possibilities for gaming expansion in The Lone Star State continue to take center stage. Many tend to focus on the future of sports betting in Texas. That’s understandable. Thanks to the rise of online sportsbooks in the United States, it has become a more polarizing industry. People in the market for entertainment value the opportunity to partake in gaming remotely. Visiting brick-and-mortar casinos and sportsbooks will always have its place. But mobile betting sites in the United States are seizing ever-increasing shares of the gaming industry. This includes online casinos in the USA, too. 

And look, if you’re someone who supports the legalization of sports betting in The Lone Star State, you should also have a vested interest in the approval of commercial Texas casinos. The two matters are seemingly intertwined. Many don’t see one getting legalized without the other.

In fact, plenty of analysts believe the legalization of Texas casinos will come first. Regulating those establishments lends itself to a sports betting infrastructure. It’s supposed to make the transition into Texas online sports betting that much smoother.

With all of this said, there is no blueprint for how gaming expansion in The Lone State State will unfold. Most acknowledge it’s inevitable. Many think something seismic will happen during 2025 legislative sessions. But could that something seismic include, at long last, the green light for Texas casinos? Would officials in Dallas really take the time to evaluate prospects if expansion weren’t a serious possibility? And what type of trickle-down effect could this process have not just for the casino industry, but for Texas sports betting chances?

State officials are clearly having discussions. So let’s have one of our own.

Pitches for Texas Casinos Have Essentially Demanded This Next Step

Whether The Lone Star State is seriously contemplating the addition of commercial casino operations in Texas may be irrelevant. Enough outside parties are expressing interest and outlining proposals that they may not have a choice. Investigating the impact these establishments and resorts will have on the region may be more like required due diligence than a specific harbinger. 

That certainly seems to be the case in Dallas. As PlayTexas’ Phil West recently explained:

“Community leaders in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex plan to study how destination casinos would impact the area.The North Texas Commission, a public-private partnership ‘dedicated to advancing the vibrancy of the North Texas region,’ is exploring the issue ahead of the 2025 Texas legislative session. The group is forming a committee of business and community leaders to look at the impact casinos might have on North Texas. Dallas-Fort Worth is the fourth-largest metro area in the US and the largest in Texas.

[Last week, the] NTC hosted a roundtable discussion. At the meeting, Andy Abboud, senior vice president for government affairs for the Las Vegas Sands Corp., presented a vision of what a destination resort casino in North Texas might look like. As Abboud noted in his remarks, Texans are already traveling to Oklahoma to gamble. Losing out on tax revenue to a neighboring state hits home in most places.”

From the sound of things, it sounds like officials who stand as pro-Texas casinos are driving this bus. It also sounds like the focus on their investigation will zero in on the financial benefits The Lone Star State adding commercial casinos.

Will the North Texas Commission’s Approach to Casino Exploration be Successful?

Mapping out the revenue possibilities for Texas casinos is likely a good place to start the argument in favor of them. After all, money talks. 

What’s more, lost money speaks volumes as well. And as the NTC has noted, The Lone Star State continues to forfeit potential revenue to neighboring locations. Mind you, this is simply related to casino wagering among Texans. If online sports betting in Oklahoma gets legalized before The Lone Star State makes the transition, the amount of lost revenue will likely skyrocket.

Still, although it makes sense to drum up the financial benefits of Texas casinos, there’s no guarantee it’ll work. Similar cases have already been made. Heck, they are basically made every other year. That’s how often the Texas state legislature meets. 

Casinos and legal sports betting are invariably brought up during each session. The 2025 legislative meetings were never going to be any different. The question is whether this round of pitches and proposals will be more successful.

Something Feels Different This Time Around

Suggesting that Texas casinos and, perhaps, sports betting will have more support in 2025 is too easy at this juncture. The state legislation won’t meet for basically another half-year. Optimism always rules the day when you have the benefit of time.

Yet, something does feel different this time. It isn’t just the matter of Texas casinos but sports betting as well. Remember the House of Representatives showed plenty of support for Texas sports betting and casinos during their last round of meetings. Traction started to wane once the issue was brought to the Senate. 

Others believe next year’s chain of events will follow an identical path. They could be right. But the Las Vegas Sands Corp. has started heavily investing in the Dallas area during the time since. Their majority shareholder purchased a controlling stake in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and they’ve also acquired the rights to prime real estate in the area. On top of that, they have flat-out communicated their interest and intent to construct Texas casinos and destination resorts if and when they’re given the opportunity.

Would a major corporation make such substantial purchases in a desired market if they didn’t believe gaming expansion was imminent? Truthfully, the might. Corporations do often take long-term views. A four-to-10-year timeline is a drop in the bucket to them.

At the same time, the aggression with which the Las Vegas Sands is acting suggests there’s more urgency to their push. And while urgency isn’t always telltale, it could mean that the legalization of commercial Texas casinos will get a longer, harder look in 2025.

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