The American sports betting industry earned revenues of $13.7 billion in 2024. And that’s without legalized wagering in the two most populated states in the nation — California and Texas.

Texas, which has more than 30 million residents, is making another run at it.

Pat Evans of LegalSportsReport.com has taken a close look at current bills that would amend the Texas Constitution to allow sports betting and casino gambling programs in the Lone Star State.

The public wants it. The state’s 12 pro sports teams want it, too. (After all, they’ll make plenty from sports book sponsorships once their fans can bet.) Most of the Republican politicians in the Texas house and senate don’t.

It’s an age-old question. How far will or should the government go to protect citizens from themselves? Given that those citizens who develop addictions that wipe out their savings will add to the broader taxpayer burden, it’s easier to justify maintaining the firewall.

Last year’s record take underscores the reality that, over time, the public will lose. It’s a transfer of wealth, a tax on the poor. No different than lottery tickets.

Sports betting feels different because lottery tickets are inherently rigged. Only so many winners are printed; the house will always come out ahead. With sports betting, there’s a greater sense that the bettor can win — because the bettor makes the selections. But we know that, in the long run, the bettors will lose and the house will win.

In 2024, $13.7 billion that could have been spent on other things was squandered on legal sports betting. And while the habit can be justified as entertainment dollars and every commercial, whether standalone or subtly embedded within actual content, carries the fine-print 800 number for those whose can’t fend off a rush much better than bowling, the truth was and is that the availability of legal sports betting without functioning guardrails will damage lives.

Most states have resolved the ethical dilemma in favor of grabbing their cut. Again, it’s just another tax. And it’s way more fun for the taxpayer than filling out the forms, especially since it carries the vague notion that the bottom line could entail a massive refund.

Regardless, $13.7 billion. While Texas and California hold firm. The question is how much longer they’ll manage to resist the kind of supplement to the state’s coffers that almost every other jurisdiction in the land has decided to embrace.