Texas Sports Betting Alternative Launches

If you are in the market for a Texas sports betting alternative, then today just might be your lucky day. FanDuel daily fantasy pick ‘em games are coming to The Lone Star State.

They’re also arriving everywhere else that does not yet have legal sports betting.

FanDuel Picks debuted to kick off the month of September. Not coincidentally, this is just when betting on the NFL regular season reaches its apex.

“Just in time for the NFL season, we are excited to bring fans a social way to engage with the sports and athletes they love with the launch of FanDuel Picks,” the company’s general manager, Rob Cullen, said in a press release (via Legal Sports Report). “The ‘more’ or ‘less’ selection model offers a streamlined fantasy sports experience, and we look forward to offering our customers another way to interact with games this season.”

This move will be a welcome one for NFL fans who wish to bet on sports in Texas but currently cannot. Despite numerous pieces of legislation being proposed over the years, policymakers in The Lone Star State have not shown much appetite for the legalization of sports gambling.

As we know all too well, the push for Texas sports betting will soldier on. The topic of casino and sports gambling legalization is too lucrative for prospective operators. Remember, The Lone Star State is not just home to a handful of flagship professional sports franchises and collegiate programs. It also boasts the second highest population in the United States, according to StatsAmerica.org. This is, without question, a market that operators desperately want to enter.

In fact, on some level, the launch of FanDuel Picks in Texas proves as much. It might not be sports betting, per se. But its adjacency to the industry speaks volumes.

What Makes FanDuel Picks Different from Outright Texas Sports Betting?

This is the question on many minds at the moment. Depending on whom you ask, some will argue that there is no difference—that daily fantasy pick ‘em games are akin to Texas sports betting, and as a result, they should not be allowed.

For now, though, FanDuel and other operators like PrizePicks and Underdog believe there’s enough of a distinction to expand operations. Here is Sam Maquillan of Legal Sports Report with more:

“The product should look familiar to sports bettors. Users select between three and six athletes and predict whether each will go “more” or “less” than a projected stat line such as rushing yards or touchdowns, according to the company’s website. Winners split pooled entry fees, with potential payouts up to 1,000x the stake, a format modeled after Same Game Parlays, which have become a central profit engine for sportsbooks.

“The pick’em product comes after PrizePicks and Underdog shifted from player-vs.-house models to peer-to-peer contests in several states, following action by more than a dozen regulators who identified their games as unlicensed sports betting. That change largely satisfied regulatory concerns and helped both DFS operators expand into additional states, though DFS remains a decisive issue in other states like California. It also opened the door for larger sportsbook operators to deploy similar parlay-style fantasy products in non-betting markets. DraftKings launched its peer-to-peer pick’em in late 2023, and FanDuel is now following suit ahead of football season.”

There will still be opposition to the described differences. However, they may not resonate with state officials.

Peer-to-peer type games generally hold up when presented as betting alternatives. Sure, they continue to exist in a gray area. Most states are not sanctioning them outright. But lawmakers generally are not targeting them, either.

Is FanDuel Picks Taking a Risk by Expanding into Texas?

As one of the largest operators of sports betting in the United States, FanDuel’s expansion into the pick ‘em market is notable.

Generally speaking, since launching proper sportsbooks, they’ve avoided servicing markets without legalized gambling. This makes sense. FanDuel will inevitably want its sportsbook to launch in holdout states if they change their tune. Prematurely bringing “games” that can be construed as gambling risks leaving the wrong impression. Traveling down this path could prove to be a slippery slope once Texas sports betting dialogue resumes.

Then again, this may not be true for The Lone Star State. Texas’ distaste is not for sports betting specifically. It has more of a wholesale stance against all forms gambling. If their laws ever change, they aren’t as likely to hold FanDuel Picks against the larger FanDuel company.

It is a different story in places like The Golden State. California sports betting is more of a hot-button topic. Tribal nations hold all the power, and sports betting talks are ongoing. If FanDuel Picks comes to California, it risks eating into the tribes’ business model. That will definitely not go over well when the time comes to rehash sports betting.

FanDuel does not have to worry about upending tribal revenue streams in Texas. Not on the same scale, at least. The Lone Star State only has a handful of federally recognized tribes. And none of them are allowed to operate a traditional casino. This should put FanDuel—and other pick ‘em companies—in the clear if Texas sports betting ever gets legalized.

As for whether the allowance of pick ‘em contests will hold, well, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Take a look at this list of the top online sportsbooks so you can find one that works for all of your sports betting needs: