The North Texas Commission is forming a committee of business and community leaders to look into issues related to destination resorts and casino gambling as the push for legalization continues to pick up steam ahead of the 2025 legislative session.
The "exploratory committee" will study the implications of destination gaming and make recommendations regarding issues like economic development, workforce demands, infrastructure requirements, transportation and public safety impacts. NTC Chief Operating Officer Patrick Brophey said elected officials, tourism leaders, economic development officials, chambers of commerce members and representatives from religious and faith-based organizations are all invited to apply, with plans to launch the committee in the fall.
"This is open to North Texas Commission members who we traditionally cater to, but well beyond that as well to get the full scope of our community including social services, public safety, nonprofits, arts and entertainment, mental health professionals and business and industry leaders," Brophey said. "We want parity across the region."
Brophey said the NTC seeks to have the full gamut of opinions represented on the committee, ranging from those who fully support casino gambling to skeptics and opponents. The call for applications came following a roundtable discussion hosted by the NTC and the Texas Association of Business on July 24 in Hurst where an executive from Las Vegas Sands Corp. pitched business leaders on why destination gaming will benefit Texas, and specifically the Dallas-Fort Worth region.
Sands (NYSE: LSV) and its majority owner, billionaire Miriam Adelson, have spent millions in recent years trying to get casino gambling legalized in Texas. In 2021, Sands hired 76 lobbyists and spent $6.7 million in Austin, according to the Dallas Morning News. Despite its efforts, legislation failed to pass.
Adelson has contributed more than $13 million this year in Texas during the primary and runoff elections. A political action committee tied to Sands spent more than $2.5 million supporting candidates, including House Speaker Dade Phelan.
Amid the push, Adelson and her family purchased a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban in December. Cuban, who maintains a 27% share of the NBA franchise, has floated the idea of building a resort casino in Dallas that would be anchored by a new arena. Such a project could make Dallas a top-five U.S. travel destination, he has said.
Abboud and Chris Wallace, CEO of the NTC, said during the roundtable they want the Texas legislature to pass bill that would put a constitutional amendment on the ballot so voters can have their say on casino gambling. A constitutional amendment requires two-thirds approval in both chambers of the legislature and then the support of a majority of voters in the state.
If the amendment passes, Abboud said Sands and other supporters of destination gaming would then envision the state moving forward with issuing a limited number of operating licenses through a competitive bidding process. Each of the areas in Texas would get a couple licenses, as well as "maybe" a couple of other destinations in the state, Abboud said. Limiting the number of licenses is important, he said, in order to maximize the economic impact of destination resorts.
"It doesn't need to be everywhere," Abboud said. "It's like NFL teams or MLB teams...It doesn't need to be on every corner. If you diminish the market, you diminish the investment and you're just diminishing the economic impact that it can have."
During his presentation, Abboud emphasized what he described as the differences between "destination resorts" and casinos. Venues like the ones Sands develops include huge convention spaces and are based on integrating business travel, high-end gaming and entertainment into a single destination. He argued that such resorts have major economic impacts, including trickle-down benefits to suppliers and other businesses that benefit from their presence. when you build something really spectacular that becomes an iconic tourist destination, then a rising tide lifts all boats," Abboud said.
In particular, Abboud said Dallas-Fort Worth could benefit from the convention space. He noted that Las Vegas has 15 million square feet of convention space alone. Having more space attracts bigger show and also helps the region use its existing space more efficiently, he said. It typically takes about three or four days to set up a show, then the show goes on for three or four days and then it takes another few days to break it down, he said.
"If you don't have enough space to house several large conventions at one time...you're only effectively using a lot of space a third of the year," Abboud said.
An economic impact study conducted by George Zodrow, professor of Economics at Rice University, for Sands for the last legislative session in 2023 estimated gaming could add $13 billion to the economy of Texas and create 70,000 permanent jobs. The study found Dallas-Fort Worth could potentially see a $34.7 million increase in tax revenue from ongoing operations, including $5.9 million from sales tax, $28 million from property taxes and $700,000 in other non-gaming taxes.
Abboud said the study will be updated for next year's legislative session.
Some of the participants in the discussion expressed concerns about safety and crime, citing statistics about casinos that subsequently saw increased crime rates in the surrounding areas. Abboud pushed back, saying that the crime rates "are false." He said the crime rate declined in Pennsylvania after Sands converted an old Bethlehem Steel factory into a resort and that the crime rate in Las Vegas is comparable to other large cities.
"Economic benefit and economic growth does not cause crime," Abboud said. "It lowers crime."
Responding to other criticisms, Abboud said addiction rates for gambling are low at about 1-2%, and that by legalizing gambling Texas would gain the resources to help its citizens who already cross the border to go gamble in Oklahoma.
One participant also described the jobs casinos bring in as not being the typical high-tech, high-paying jobs the NTC typically tries to help bring to Texas.
"A lot of people need the jobs that we provide, and you never can have enough jobs in your community and increased visitation," Abboud said. "People are moving from all over. Let's be clear: people are moving into Texas from all over the world because of the opportunity."
Some in the room said they believe legalization of casino gambling is inevitable and that DFW needs to be ready.
"We can talk about where it's going to go and what it's going to do and what it's going to be, but the reality of it is...it is going to happen," Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer said. "So where we sit as a metroplex is are we going to be ready for it compared to the rest of the state?"