AUSTIN — Undeterred by a legislative defeat more than a year ago, Las Vegas Sands, one of the world’s largest casino operators, is preparing a new effort to legalize casino gambling in Texas, reaching out to local leaders around the state to garner support ahead of the next legislative session in January.
Sands lobbyists are making their case at a series of statewide roundtables organized by the Texas Business Association to build momentum for passing gambling legislation again in 2025. About 50 city officials and business representatives from North Texas cities including Fort Worth, Arlington and Dallas attended one of the meetings, held recently in Tarrant County.
Sands management has significantly expanded its North Texas presence over the past year with the acquisition of the Dallas Mavericks and more than 100 acres in Irving near the former Texas Stadium site — enough to build a destination casino resort.
Their local efforts are just one element of a multi-pronged strategy that also includes big political donations and intense lobbying by the Sands and others in the gambling industry to overcome resistance to luxury casinos and legal sports betting.
During the 2023 legislative session, Sands campaigned on a casino bill introduced by Republican Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth that died on the final day of the session after it was certain to fail in the Senate.
Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Texas Business Association, the state’s chamber of commerce, said the forum showed broad support for casino gambling despite past defeats.
“There’s clearly momentum among proponents of destination gambling,” he said.
Speaking to The Fort Worth Report, Geren declined to discuss the prospects for a gambling bill in the 2025 session or acknowledge whether he would play a role on the issue again, saying it’s too early to address the issue.
“It’s a long way to the next session and I’m not thinking about anything,” the Republican said. “I’m not thinking about anything like that at this point.”
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Bob Demrich
If Gelen’s proposal passes the state legislature, Texans would be able to vote on a constitutional amendment to legalize casinos across the state, including North Texas. A House bill introduced by state Rep. John Kuempel (R-Seguin) that would have allowed eight luxury casinos to be built died along with Gelen’s bill.
Religious groups and local health advocates concerned about gambling addiction have traditionally opposed the measure, and the Texas Republican Party in its 2024 platform firmly opposed “any expansion of gambling,” including casinos.
“It hasn’t improved at all. In fact, it’s gotten worse since the last session,” Rob Kohler, a consultant for the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, said of the gambling legalization effort. Kohler said opposition to gambling has grown among Republican lawmakers since the March primary.
The Sands’ latest efforts as they prepare for the next session reinforce comments made by Sands chief lobbyist Andy Abboud shortly after the 2023 election results, when he vowed to “continue to advance our efforts in Texas.”
Rather than concede defeat, Abboud described last year’s parliamentary response as “extraordinary progress” compared with the high-stakes votes of previous sessions and insisted that “our efforts are moving in the right direction.”
Mr. Abboud, Sands’ senior vice president for government relations, has served as the company’s spokesman at a series of pro-gaming conferences organized by the state business association, people familiar with the meetings said. Mr. Abboud declined to be interviewed, but in a Sands presentation he gave at the North Texas conference, he argued that a luxury casino would bring $13 billion to Texas’ economic output, creating 70,000 full-time jobs and 185,000 construction jobs.
“They’re planning on staying for the long term,” said Matt Hirsch, spokesman for the Texas Destination Resorts Alliance, which pushed for Geren’s constitutional amendment. “They didn’t expect it to happen overnight.”
Hammer, the Texas Business Association CEO, said his organization has supported casino gambling in Texas “for years” and organized a conference for local leaders to build support across the state.
“The Coalition for Destination Gambling goes far beyond the Sands Corporation,” he said.
At a session for North Texas leaders held at the Hearst Conference Center on July 23, co-sponsored by the North Texas Commission on Economic Development and the Business Association, which promotes economic development in the region, Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said he and the majority of attendees were in favor of giving voters the opportunity to decide whether to introduce gambling to Texas.
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Arlington Report
Ross said it’s a “clear sign” that at some point lawmakers will give voters the option to approve a state constitutional amendment to allow casinos.
“This type of venue is a perfect fit for what we do here in Arlington,” Ross said, noting the city is known nationally for its entertainment district, which includes professional sports venues and two Six Flags theme parks.
Fort Worth City Councilman Alan Blaylock was in attendance but could not be reached for comment. Other attendees included city council members and chamber of commerce officials from Dallas, Irving, Grapevine, Flower Mound, Farmers Branch and Frisco, as well as representatives from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Chris Wallace, chairman and CEO of the North Texas Commission, said his committee formed a study committee to look into the issue and helped convene the meeting as part of an effort to “really get a sense” of all sides of the debate over legalizing gambling before lawmakers take action.
He said it was “doubtful” the Legislature would take final action in the next session, predicting the push for legalized gambling might require a “multi-session strategy” stretching into the 2027 or 2029 biennial session.
Other conferences have been held in McKinney, The Woodlands and Fort Bend counties, with upcoming ones planned for Odessa in West Texas and Taylor in the Austin area. Virtual conferences are also tentatively planned for East Texas.
Dave Montgomery is a freelance reporter for the Fort Worth Report.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
