Dallas Cowboys owner voices support for sports betting in Texas
Jerry Jones sees opportunity given ‘huge amount of gaming going on in and around sports’
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has joined the growing list of powerful Texas stakeholders pushing for legalized sports betting to come to the Lone Star State, utilizing a recent radio interview to formally voice his support for sports betting.
In an interview with 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on January 13, ahead of the Cowboys’ playoff opener vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jones outlined his reasons why he believes Texas should follow in the footsteps of dozens of US states in legalizing sports betting.
“I think it’s really a thing that needs to be addressed at this time,” Jones said. “One of the reasons why I think it does is because it’s happening at this time.
“There’s a huge amount of gaming going on in and around sports at this time. And, so, to have all of the benefits or all of the control over it, it needs to be recognized and parameters put on it and discipline put in it.”
Many states that have successfully rolled out sports betting have earmarked tax revenue for facilities like infrastructure and education, and Jones believes his state could benefit from similar support.
‘Then, also the benefits that go, can go in Texas, could adhere to the right kind of people, or some property tax,” Jones said. “Certainly help educate our great state’s children. All of those things can be enhanced by something that’s presently going on in a big, big way.”
Jones joins Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta – who owns Golden Nugget casinos in five states – in expressing support for sports betting.
Cuban, a longtime proponent of expanding gambling, is interested in bringing Las Vegas-style casinos to Texas, and has said he could ultimately envision the Mavericks playing in an arena that’s part of a bigger casino resort development.
“We should be getting the benefit of it as other states are,” Jones continued. “Other states surrounding us are. So it’s time for us to, I think, set the rules up and execute on it and get the benefits of it,” he added.