7 May 7–13, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents ▼ SPORTS WAGES OF WAGERING STAR NORTH TEXAS QUARTERBACK CHECKS INTO REHAB FOR ONLINE SPORTS BETTING. BY KELLY DEARMORE S tar college quarterback Brendan Sorsby continues to make headlines, but not the kind Texas Tech Univer- sity is reportedly paying him millions of dol- lars for. According to an April 27 ESPN report, the former Lake Dallas High School standout is set to check himself into rehab treatment for gambling addiction. “Sorsby’s decision to seek treatment for gambling addiction, according to sources, came in the wake of the discovery of Sorsby making thousands of online bets on a variety of sports via a gambling app, which jeopardizes his eligibility with Texas Tech,” reported ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel. As Sorsby takes a leave of absence from the team, Texas Tech told ESPN in a state- ment that the university “is committed to supporting Brendan through his recovery process and to ensure his long-term health and well-being.” Sorsby grabbed headlines in January when he signed with Texas Tech for mil- lions of dollars, something that still sounds odd to many who have followed college football for many years. Thanks to changes in laws that allow college athletes to make money from their names, image and likeness (NIL), Sorsby and others, including former University of North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker, now command contracts larger than some NFL players receive. The NIL era cleared the way for Sorsby’s former school, the University of Cincinnati, to sue him for breach of contract in February after the QB announced his intention to play for Texas Tech. According to the ESPN report, Sorsby al- legedly bet on University of Indiana football to win while he played for the Hoosiers as a true freshman in 2022, a season in which he played in a single game as a reserve. He did play in a single game that season, but the re- port says Sorsby is not accused of betting on that game. Although law enforcement is reportedly not looking into Sorsby’s betting, the NCAA is currently investigating the matter since collegiate athletes are prohibited from bet- ting on college and professional sports. This case comes as many experts sound the alarm over an online gambling crisis in- volving young men in the U.S. A recent Busi- ness Insider report detailed how online sports betting has led some young Americans into massive amounts of debt, with a consumer bankruptcy attorney saying, “They’re betting hundreds of dollars per hour, and not really knowing it.” NPR reported in February that it is often young men who “are particularly likely to get in too deep,” Thirty states have legal online sports gambling, while many others, including Texas, where traditional gambling is still il- legal, currently allow people to place money on prediction markets. Thanks to a couple of key differences, prediction market plat- forms such as Kalshi and Polymarket allow users to wager on just about any event, in- cluding elections and sports. Reps from those platforms will be quick to say their users are buying contracts, not placing bets, but the results play out the same. Guess right, win some money. Guess wrong, lose money. The ease of online gambling and predic- tion markets has helped fuel the upward tra- jectory of users. An April study from St. Bonaventure University reported that 52% of men ages 18–49 have an active sportsbook ac- count and 46% of them are actively betting. It is unclear when Sorsby will return to the team. As Sorsby’s legal matter with his former school represents a new era for the college sports landscape, this announcement is an unfamiliar sign of the times as well.CUP ▼ TRANSIT (ALMOST) FREE RIDES DALLAS TO AVOID SKY-HIGH TRANSIT FEES PLAGUING OTHER FIFA WORLD CUP HOST CITIES. BY EMMA RUBY M uch has been made of the fact that this summer’s FIFA World Cup is likely to be the most expensive in his- tory. Ticket prices are higher than at past tour- naments, and rental costs are surging — but there is at least one place where Dallas ticketh- olders can expect to save a buck or two. Last month, the North Texas FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee and the North Central Texas Council of Governments un- veiled the transit plan to help move fans around a town that isn’t especially well known for its public transportation. The process for getting to matches in Arlington is a bit cobbled together (or, as organizers would describe it, multimodal), but it won’t break the bank. Ticketholders will be asked to ride the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) from Fort Worth or Dallas to the CentrePort Station. From there, charter buses will transport groups to a designated bus hub drop-off zone. A half-mile walk to the stadium com- pletes the journey — after all, did you really visit Jerry World if you didn’t have to get some steps in? The same process will run in reverse after each match. For anyone holding a matchday ticket, the charter bus between CentrePort and the stadium drop-off zone will be free, but a TRE ticket will be needed for that segment of the journey. To purchase a regional pass, which works for the TRE and DART Light Rail and would enable a visitor to go all the way from Fort Worth to a game, from the game to the FIFA Fan Fest in Fair Park, and then back to Fort Worth, the day pass is cur- rently around $9. Just because transit won’t break the bank for Dallas visitors doesn’t mean that North Texas agencies aren’t paying a lot to operate this system (and all the additional transit systems that will run during the tourna- ment). According to the Dallas Morning News, DART is expecting to pay $18.2 mil- lion to move riders across the metroplex during the games. That cost includes more than $1 million earmarked for security, $8.5 million for equipment upgrades, and $88,000 for paratransit services. Not all host cities have been happy to swallow that cost. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill re- cently posted on social media that New Jer- sey Transit was “stuck with a $48 million bill” that FIFA should cover. If they don’t, the governor said she would support a mas- sive fare hike that was publicized earlier in the week. FIFA has pushed back, stating that host city agreements penned in 2018 called for free transit for all fans. That was later amended because of the financial strain it put on cities, a FIFA spokesperson told NBC News, and host cities are now required to provide transit at a cost accessible to match ticket holders. This is not the first time Dallas has avoided some of the World Cup funding snares that host cities are facing. In Febru- ary, months-long delays to appropriated funding caused several FIFA host cities to scale back on plans for the fan festival each hub is responsible for hosting. Boston, Mi- ami and Kansas City each threatened to can- cel their festivals if funding was not released, while New York/New Jersey actu- ally did so. In Los Angeles, the festivities will be ticketed instead of free. In Dallas, though, plans are still on. The free festival will be held in Fair Park for the duration of the tournament, and it will be free to attend. Your pocketbook is welcome. Ron Jenkins/Getty Images Brendan Sorsby #2 of the Cincinnati Bearcats scrambles in 2025. Hand built not bougHt. Franklins TaTToo and supply 469-904-2665 • 4910 Columbia ave, dallas, TX 75214 proFessional TaTToo supply For pros only Call for your appointment or design commissions today!
