Texas House to consider fantasy sports legislation
Published 3:17 pm Friday, April 26, 2019
The Texas House of Representatives is scheduled to consider a bill that would update the Texas Penal Code to reflect that fantasy sports contests are games of skill and playing them do not violate Texas law.
Rep. Joseph Moody has authored House Bill 2303, which will be sent to the Texas Senate for consideration if passed by the House. The Texas House Committee on Licensing and Administrative Procedures reported favorably on HB 2303 on April 4, according to a news release from the Texas Fantasy Sports Alliance, which is self-described as “a coalition of sports fans, champions of free markets and limited government, consumer defenders and Texas residents who believe Texans have the right to play the fantasy sports games they love.”
State Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, was one of five co-authors for a bill to legalize fantasy sports when the bill failed in the House in 2017. Phelan told The News last July he believes fantasy sports are different from gambling because fantasy sports have an element of skill.
About I.C. Murrell
I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
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