While the world of sports betting and gambling continues to grow and receive scrutiny from high courts around the country, the three most populated states in the country are unlikely to legalize the practice.
According to Geoff Mulvihill of The Associated Press, there is little groundwork being laid for the legalization of gambling in California, Texas, or Florida, despite each state having immense value to the industry given their population’s sizes.
Mulvihill iterates that there are differing reasons for why there is a lack of progress in these three states. In California and Florida, “powerful tribal interests” controlling the casino industries have been hesitant to reopen their gambling markets.
In Texas, “political clout” and “social conservatives” who oppose gambling form a moral standpoint are stagnating any potential for legalization.
Thus, according to Mulvihill, all three states would likely “a statewide vote to amend the constitution.”
The U.S. Supreme Court made a monumental decision last May when they delegated the legalization of sports betting to the states. Since that time, sports gambling has become legal in eight states. In the meantime, 22 other states have bills in place for consideration.
Mulvihill reports that there are some state politicians that there may be a way to legalize without voter approval, but that this approach could have the ramifications of a potential lawsuit.
In the NBA alone, at least one team playing in the NBA Finals in the last decade has hailed from one of these states.
However, due to the controlling interests of a select few and an unwillingness to open up the market, it appears that none of the three most populous states in the country will legalize gambling.
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