Texas Billionaire Mark Cuban’s “Mission” to Build Combo Resort / Casino / Arena

• Dallas Mavs Billionaire Owner Mark Cuban Tells Media of “Mission” to Build Complex

• Gambling Has Yet to Receive Support from Either Chamber of the Legislative Body

• TX State Sen. Carol Alvarado Plans to Introduce Sports Betting Legislation in 2023

Dallas Mavs Billionaire Owner Mark Cuban Tells Media of “Mission” to Build Complex

For any Texas gamblers still wondering if that state will ever legalize sports betting and launch its own market, the fact that famous Lone Star State billionaire Mark Cuban is showing interest in constructing a casino resort with an NBA arena should be a clear sign that it’s coming.

That’s according to reporting done by the Dallas Morning News asserting that Cuban “is interested in constructing a multibillion-dollar integrated casino resort with an NBA arena for his Dallas Mavericks,” the Shark Tank star ready to partner up with a familiar name for the deal.

Late last week, Cuban told the DMN that:

“My goal, and we’d partner with Las Vegas Sands, is when we build a new arena, it’ll be in the middle of a resort and casino. That’s the mission.”

Cuban has shared his vision of creating a “destination” that tourists from outside of Texas will see as a place to spend their vacation, an exciting getaway that people save up and plan for, because right now in Texas, according to Cuban, “There is none.”

It will take a lot of debate and compromise to get that done, though.

Gambling Has Yet to Receive Support from Either Chamber of the Legislative Body

Cuban is the first Texas team owner to publicly express an interest in such a venture, a goal that is bound to have its challenges in that state where sports betting has yet to garner support from its legislative body, despite residents clearly already placing sports wagers elsewhere.

That includes pseudo-celebrity “Mattress” Mack who, in order to place his $2 million winning bet on the Houston Astros during the last MLB season, had to leave the state to get it done and to eventually collect his winnings, a difficult process that could be made easier with a new law.

Since the Texas legislature only meets in odd-numbered years, it won’t be until 2023 when the issue is brought up again, but starting on January 10, 2023, when that body next convenes, expect there to be plenty of discussion towards making this change happen.

In fact, one state Senator has already announced her plans to do just that.

TX State Sen. Carol Alvarado Plans to Introduce Sports Betting Legislation in 2023

According to the DMN, Texas state Senator Carol Alvarado has filed Senate Joint Resolution 17 (SJR-17), which is a constitutional amendment proposal that, if passed and signed into law, would allow for legal sports gambling in that state.

SJR-17 would first require two-thirds approval from both the state House and Senate, then the matter would be put up to the resident voters to decide, and their approval would allow for the creation of a Texas Gaming Commission that would regulate and launch that market.

Cuban told the DMN why he thinks his idea would work:

“For anyone who lives outside of Texas, what is the one place that they plan a vacation to visit in Texas? There is none. There’s no destination resort in Texas where, if you’re living in Pittsburgh or Indiana or Chicago, you say, ‘Hey, honey, we’re saving money to take the family to Texas.'”

That could be great fun for tourists and Lone Star gamblers alike, with lots of new income streams created for Cuban and Texas, similar to what has already happened in over thirty other U.S. states.