Gov. Abbott supports sports betting. Does anything change?

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Despite Gov. Greg Abbott coming out in support of legalized online sports gambling, the measure still faces an uphill battle.

In a recent interview with the Houston Chronicle’s “Texas Take” podcast, Abbott said, “I don’t have a problem with online sports betting,” one of the strongest stances he’s publicly taken on the issue. But what does that mean for gambling companies and their supporters? In the short term, not much.

“I know that this is a long game,” State Sen. Carol Alvarado (D – Houston) said. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

A long marathon

Texas is one of 19 states left that hasn’t legalized mobile sports betting, and one of 11 without any form of legalized gambling at all. That doesn’t mean Texans aren’t risking their money.

“People are already online sports betting,” Alvarado said. “We oughta regulate it and legalize it so that we’re doing it in a very legitimate and responsible way.”

Legalized gambling in Texas, which would require a constitutional amendment, has some powerful opponents. The Texas Public Policy Foundation, an influential conservative think tank, released a report in January estimating that 4.5 million Texans could be negatively affected by gambling legalization.

The biggest hold-up is the Texas Senate, led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

In 2023, the Texas House narrowly passed online sports betting legalization and legislation to amend the constitution. In the Senate, Lt. Gov. Patrick didn’t bring it to a vote, saying in March 2023, “Unless I have 15, 16 Republicans — meaning it’s a Republican-driven bill because we’re in a Republican-driven state… I’m not bringing a bill to the floor. I need to have consensus by the Republicans. Otherwise, it’s a bill that the Democrats are passing. We don’t do that in the Senate.”

Texans want to bet

This week, the University of Houston released a survey showing that 60% of Texans support online sports betting, while 73% support resort-style casinos. However, one of the authors of that survey, Mark P. Jones, doesn’t think that means much.

“The group that needs to be convinced are not voters,” Jones said. “The group that needs to be convinced are the 20 members of the Republican caucus in the Texas Senate along with the Lieutenant Governor, both of whom essentially believe as a group that the costs of gambling outweigh their benefit.”

For now, pro-gambling Texans may have to continue their years-long wait.

“People evolve, look at Governor Abbott. He was against it,” Alvarado said. “This is legislation I’ve been filing since 2009 and will continue to file it.”