Texas heads into football season awash in promotions promising fans they can make money on games without ever leaving the state. Social media feeds are filled with apps that let users “trade” on outcomes or assemble fast fantasy rosters, with marketing copy implying the activity is newly legal — even though no Texas law has changed this year.
Scroll further and the tone sharpens. Some campaigns outright claim that football trading is now legal in Texas. Within that broader online gambling conversation, users also come across brands positioning themselves around responsible play. References to Casino Bruno often appear in that context, tied to tools and features that emphasize safer gambling practices.
The Ads Outpace the Law
No state or federal statute shifted in 2025 to legalize sports betting in Texas, other than a restriction on online lottery courier services. Efforts to authorize casinos, sportsbooks, or daily fantasy platforms stalled once again. Yet alternatives found room to grow, led by two categories. The first: prediction markets. These reframe wagers as event contracts with yes-or-no outcomes and cite oversight from the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission as legitimacy.
Company executives insist their model differs from sportsbooks. They stress that transactions are peer-to-peer and revenue comes from small fees rather than bookmaking risk; users are not technically betting against the house. Critics counter that such framing is cosmetic. Whether packaged as futures contracts or fantasy lineups, the core remains the same: people stake money on game results with the expectation of a payout if they call it correctly.
Why Prediction Markets Caught Fire
Prediction markets surged over the past year as traders promoted odds on elections and sporting events. The setup is simple: users purchase yes-or-no shares tied to an outcome. Prices shift with news and sentiment until the event concludes, at which point shares settle at 1 or 0. Companies highlight heavy trading around football kickoff weekends and present the model as “trading” rather than gambling.
They point out that interstate sports betting falls under older restrictions, but when a platform frames itself as financial trading and operates under a federal regime, states that prohibit sportsbooks face a new jurisdictional challenge.
The DFS Skill Exemption
Daily Fantasy Sports entered the scene through a different opening. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act created an exemption years ago for fantasy contests built on peer-to-peer play, fixed prize pools, and rosters requiring at least two athletes. That framework later shaped daily formats, where contests compress into a few hours and payouts arrive quickly. Operators avoid the sportsbook label by emphasizing skill rather than chance.
Texas leadership complicated matters in 2016 when the attorney general issued a nonbinding opinion declaring DFS to be gambling. But with little follow-up or enforcement, companies carved out space to grow. In contrast, several other states pursued clarity, passing laws that classify DFS explicitly as a game of skill.
Enforcement Focused Elsewhere
Lawmakers in Austin did act, but on another front. They outlawed app-based lottery couriers and shifted oversight by moving the lottery commission into the Department of Licensing and Regulation. Proposals that would have put sports betting or DFS under the old commission went nowhere, and two separate bills to create a formal framework for DFS never even received hearings.
At the same time, a major national operator revealed plans to roll out prediction market contracts before year’s end — a sign that alternative products will continue to expand. Advocates argue these offerings are safer than the offshore sportsbooks that Texans already turn to when they cannot access regulated options at home..
What Texans Need To Know Right Now
The clearest summary is simple: Texas still bans sports betting. The alternatives exist only because they lean on federal frameworks or older fantasy exemptions. For users, the experience often feels like betting, which explains the traction during football season. Before clicking an ad, it helps to run through a quick checklist:
If an app claims sports betting is now legal in Texas, confirm with state authorities that no law has changed in 2025.
Check whether the format is peer-to-peer with fixed prizes or if you are effectively playing against the house.
Look for built-in protections like self-exclusion options, spending caps, and clear fee structures.
Treat labels carefully. Whether called trading, investing, betting, or gambling, all involve risking money with the hope of a return.
The Federal State Tension Will Decide the Next Chapter
Texas has spoken forcefully against expanding gambling, yet gray zones continue to thrive online. Should prediction market operators succeed in court, pressure will mount on Congress to revisit how these contracts are classified and to give states stronger authority. If states prevail instead, platforms will be forced to redesign products or retreat from markets where prohibitions stand.
For now, the cycle repeats. Ads saturate social feeds, newcomers download apps because entry costs are minimal, and the market grows even as the state objects in principle. Users face a maze of terms that promise fun but carry real financial risk. Until lawmakers set clear rules or courts define boundaries, these workarounds will keep slipping through gaps in the law and shaping the way Texans gamble.