Casino gambling might be illegal in Texas, but several large gaming companies are placing long-term bets on a potential future jackpot.
The Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s recent Dallas-area real estate purchases aren’t the only Texas investments by gambling interests.
“Texas is the land of opportunity,” said longtime property market consultant Jeanette Rice. “We have 30 million residents and many certainly would be interested in having casinos closer than a drive to Oklahoma. If the regulatory doors are open to such moves, I imagine that many gaming groups would be salivating at the opportunity to expand into Texas.”
Some already are.
Fort Worth-based resort and spa operator Canyon Ranch last year teamed up with VICI Properties, the New York-based entertainment company that owns Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and other casino and entertainment properties. They formed a long-term partnership to expand the Canyon Ranch brand over the next decade. VICI ponied up $200 million for a new Canyon Ranch development in Texas’ Hill Country.
“With our explosive population growth and demand for entertainment and leisure experiences, gaming is knocking at our door,” said John Goff, owner of Canyon Ranch and chairman of Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate. “These companies have a wealth of capital and expertise that offer much more than just gaming.
“Our state’s infrastructure and educational systems could be the focus of the significant revenue streams that result,” Goff said. “This potential should and will weigh heavily on legislative action.”
The recent huge investments in the Dallas area by the owners of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., one of the world’s largest casino operators, spotlights the gaming industry’s interest in North Texas.
The Adelson and Dumont families who control Sands Corp. paid more than $3.8 billion in December to acquire majority ownership of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team from longtime owner Mark Cuban. He’s advocated for a destination-style resort in Dallas for several years and describes the new majority owners as real estate people who could make it happen.
In addition to acquiring a 73% stake in the NBA franchise, the Sands owners also bought a more than 12-acre potential property development site on Stemmons Freeway just west of Victory Park in Dallas’ Design District.
Before that, Sands Corp. last summer quietly purchased a more than 200-acre development site on Carpenter Freeway in Irving. The vacant property is across the highway from the former site of Texas Stadium and is in an area Irving has earmarked for high-density, mixed-use development.
“There certainly could be additional purchases in the future,” a Sands spokesman said after the two North Texas property buys.
Two of the country’s most successful casino operators already have their flags firmly planted in Dallas-Fort Worth. They also operate the two Oklahoma casinos most frequented by North Texans.
Since 2021, Oklahoma-based Choctaw Casinos and Resorts has had its brand front-and-center in North Texas through naming rights to Arlington’s former Globe Life Park stadium. The previous home of the Texas Rangers near Interstate 30 hosts entertainment and professional, college and high school sports events. In 2022, Choctaw signed a presenting sponsorship deal with Invited’s Celebrity Classic golf tournament to be played this year at Las Colinas Country Club.
Choctaw Casinos and Resorts is owned by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, which operates casinos throughout its home state, including its flagship in Durant that’s about 90 miles north of downtown Dallas. Almost 80% of Choctaw’s casino customers travel from Texas.
The tribe is currently building a new hotel and casino near Broken Bow, Okla. – a getaway destination popular with Dallasites. And Choctaw’s hospitality arm last summer acquired a development site in Las Colinas on Carpenter Freeway.
Another casino operator – the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma – has owned Lone Star Park horse racetrack in Grand Prairie since 2011.
The Chickasaw operate the sprawling Winstar World Casino and Resort on Interstate 35 just over the Texas-Oklahoma border and last fall opened Lucas Oil Live, a 240,000-square-foot, 6,500-seat entertainment venue that attracts a star-studded lineup of entertainers.
Winstar formed a unique partnership with the Dallas Cowboys in 2018, becoming the official casino of the team. It was a first for an NFL club.
The Cordish Companies, which in partnership with the Texas Rangers is building the $1 billion Texas Live! mixed-use development in Arlington, recently broke ground on a new casino and hotel across the Texas border in Bossier City, La.
The $270 Million Live! Casino & Hotel Louisiana is projected to generate more than $168 million in gaming tax revenues for that state within the first five years it’s open.
“With the first land-based casino in the market, Live! Casino will be a transformative development that will bring a first-class gaming and entertainment experience to millions of visitors, create significant new jobs, and generate millions of dollars in economic benefits for the community for generations to come,” Jon Cordish, principal of The Cordish Companies, said in a statement.
The 550-room hotel and 47,000-square-foot casino are scheduled to open in 2025.
In Arlington, Cordish is building a 229-unit luxury rental community in its Texas Live! development, which opened in 2018.
With 8 million residents, Dallas-Fort Worth represents one of the country’s largest target markets for casino firms. Texans spend roughly $5 billion a year in adjacent states and Las Vegas, according to one estimate.
“We have seen general growth in all commercial assets in Texas because of overall demographic and economic growth, " said Daniel Olney, research director at the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University. “Is interest in Texas just part of the wave like other investments?
“My guess is that it is because Texas has a much higher profile overall and we should expect more of everything as long as we have big job and population numbers.”
