IN THE GAME?
Fred Faour: What the Supreme Court ruling on sports betting means for Texas
May 14, 2018, 10:23 am
Don't expect to see betting shops like this one open in Texas. Getty Images
The Supreme Court ruling on Monday morning to strike down anti-sports wagering laws brought an instant positive reaction for those who are pro-gaming. But what does it really mean?
The Supreme Court struck down a 25-year-old law that has prevented sports gaming outside of Nevada. It basically will allow states to decide whether or not to pass sports gaming laws on their own. Many states have anticipated this ruling for months and have already been in the planning stages.
The NFL, NCAA, NBA and NHL had all blocked the decision at lower levels, but the state of New Jersey prevailed in the country’s highest court. Ironically, as it became clear in recent months the law would pass, commissioners of the major sports began to alter their stances, and in fact now want in on the action in some cases. Expect the leagues to try to get compensation from the individual states.
So what happens next? States that are interested will work to get laws passed before football season so wagering can begin then. That deadline might be stretching it, but New Jersey in particular is pretty far along. States that have not been preparing will take longer.
For those thinking that they will suddenly get legalized sports betting, not every state is going to pursue it. Much like legalized marijuana, sports gambling will not be as widespread at first.
CBS News speculated that 14 states (including Nevada) would be up and running inside of two years, with that number growing to as many as 32 in five years. Profootballtalk speculates between six and 10 could be up and running when the season starts.
As an aside, tt will be interesting to see the impact on tourism in Nevada, which suddenly no longer offers any gaming that will not be readily available elsewhere.
The biggest question locally is what does the ruling mean for Texas? The easy answer is one word: Nothing.
The anti-gambling establishment (or, let’s be honest, the pro-other-state gambling establishment) is too ingrained in the Texas State Legislature to ever get anything done. Casino gaming is not close, and sports betting is farther away than that. The neighboring states’ casinos funnel in tons of money to make sure Texas stays out of the gambling business. Poker rooms found a loophole, and it appears Texans will have to be happy with that, horse and greyhound racing and the lottery.
Gov. Greg Abbott wrote in 2015: “State laws on gaming are to be viewed strictly as prohibitive to any expansion of gambling. This statutory framework is properly intentioned to protect our citizens, and I support it wholeheartedly.”
That is the stance of the anti-gaming contingent, but that hasn’t stopped Texans from spending ridiculous amounts of money in neighboring states. So unless there is a significant culture change, don’t expect sports betting in Texas in the next decade -- or even longer.
The good news is that the CBS speculates that within five years you will be able to go to Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas or Louisiana and bet on sports, just like Texans do for casino gaming now. And if you are traveling around the country, you now will have options.
The next few months will be interesting as everyone tries to get in on the action, from states to the sports leagues to individual proprietors. There will be no shortage of fits and starts in getting it up and running. The U.S. has been decades behind Europe when it comes to wagering, and now a multi-billion dollar business is in play, so expect everyone to want to wet their beak. Some states will jump right in, others will wade in, but the good news is that in many states you will be able to legally wager on sports in the next few years.
Just not in Texas.
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Through 20 games, the Houston Astros have managed just six wins and are in last place in the AL West.
Their pitching staff trails only Colorado with a 5.24 ERA and big-money new closer Josh Hader has given up the same number of earned runs in 10 games as he did in 61 last year.
Despite this, these veteran Astros, who have reached the AL Championship Series seven consecutive times, have no doubt they’ll turn things around.
“If there’s a team that can do it, it’s this team,” shortstop Jeremy Peña said.
First-year manager Joe Espada, who was hired in January to replace the retired Dusty Baker, discussed his team’s early struggles.
“It’s not ideal,” he said. “It’s not what we expected, to come out of the shoot playing this type of baseball. But you know what, this is where we’re at and we’ve got to pick it up and play better. That’s just the bottom line.”
Many of Houston’s problems have stemmed from a poor performance by a rotation that has been decimated by injuries. Ace Justin Verlander and fellow starter José Urquidy haven’t pitched this season because of injuries and lefty Framber Valdez made just two starts before landing on the injured list with a sore elbow.
Ronel Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut April 1, has pitched well and is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three starts this season. Cristian Javier is also off to a good start, going 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in four starts, but the team has won just two games not started by those two pitchers.
However, Espada wouldn’t blame the rotation for Houston’s current position.
“It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster how we've played overall,” he said. “One day we get good starting pitching, some days we don’t. The middle relief has been better and sometimes it hasn’t been. So, we’ve just got to put it all together and then play more as a team. And once we start doing that, we’ll be in good shape.”
The good news for the Astros is that Verlander will make his season debut Friday night when they open a series at Washington and Valdez should return soon after him.
“Framber and Justin have been a great part of our success in the last few years,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “So, it’s always good to have those two guys back helping the team. We trust them and I think it’s going to be good.”
Hader signed a five-year, $95 million contract this offseason to give the Astros a shutdown 7-8-9 combination at the back end of their bullpen with Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly. But the five-time All-Star is off to a bumpy start.
He allowed four runs in the ninth inning of a 6-1 loss to the Braves on Monday night and has yielded eight earned runs this season after giving up the same number in 56 1/3 innings for San Diego last year.
He was much better Wednesday when he struck out the side in the ninth before the Astros fell to Atlanta in 10 innings for their third straight loss.
Houston’s offense, led by Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, ranks third in the majors with a .268 batting average and is tied for third with 24 homers this season. But the Astros have struggled with runners in scoring position and often failed to get a big hit in close games.
While many of Houston’s hitters have thrived this season, one notable exception is first baseman José Abreu. The 37-year-old, who is in the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million contract, is hitting 0.78 with just one extra-base hit in 16 games, raising questions about why he remains in the lineup every day.
To make matters worse, his error on a routine ground ball in the eighth inning Wednesday helped the Braves tie the game before they won in extra innings.
Espada brushed off criticism of Abreu and said he knows the 2020 AL MVP can break out of his early slump.
“Because (of) history,” Espada said. “The back of his baseball card. He can do it.”
Though things haven’t gone well for the Astros so far, everyone insists there’s no panic in this team which won its second World Series in 2022.
Altuve added that he doesn’t have to say anything to his teammates during this tough time.
“I think they’ve played enough baseball to know how to control themselves and how to come back to the plan we have, which is winning games,” he said.
The clubhouse was quiet and somber Wednesday after the Astros suffered their third series sweep of the season and second at home. While not panicking about the slow start, this team, which has won at least 90 games in each of the last three seasons, is certainly not happy with its record.
“We need to do everything better,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “I feel like we’re in a lot of games, but we just haven’t found a way to win them. And good teams find a way to win games. So we need to find a way to win games.”