Texas Governor Discusses His Concerns Over Sports Betting

Peter LewisPeter Lewis | March 15, 2023
Texas Governor Discusses His Concerns Over Sports Betting

All eyes are on the potential for Texas sports betting and if things are going to get finalized soon. As things stand, a new sports betting bill has been pre-filed, and now everyone is waiting to see what will happen both in the house and if things are to reach the senate. It goes without saying, but people are worried about how things are going to play out. That worry has only grown, as the Texas governor discusses his concerns over sports betting.

Indeed, Governor Greg Abbott has voiced his thoughts on things potentially moving forward. While Abbott had said that he’s not going to get in the way of things moving forward, he also made it quite clear that he’s not thrilled with the potential negative consequences that could come with the legalization. Plenty of people all over the state have often discussed gambling addiction becoming a growing problem.

“We can’t have a system also that takes money out of the hands of people who need to be able to pay their bills and buy their food and have them lose out on gambling, where they then need to depend upon the state,” Abbott said via a recent interview with USA Today on the possibility of sports betting making its way to the Lone Star State down the road.

Abbott has addiction on his mind as well, but that doesn’t mean that he’s going to try and abolish things because of that concern. If anything, Abbott knows the importance from a revenue standpoint and he also knows that he can’t continue to sit back on things and not try to move forward. More than 30 states in the USA have legalized sports betting, and millions are hoping that Texas will follow suit soon enough.

Texas sports betting could end up arriving by the end of the year

While Abbott’s latest comments have people talking, don’t forget that Texas sports betting could end up arriving by the end of the year. There’s been quite a bit of buzz surrounding the new bill that has been pre-filed, which is giving sports fans plenty of optimism about what could end up coming in the future. The fact of the matter is that the sports markets in Texas are quite massive.

With this, it would only make sense for there to be legal betting options. We don’t have to tell you that football is king in the state, as people are always ready to watch the Dallas Cowboys each weekend. Despite things being illegal, countless fans continue to check the NFL betting odds leading up to kickoff to see where the oddsmakers have America’s Team standing ahead of a primetime showdown.

Unfortunately, this has also led to plenty of illegal bets being recorded. Abbott understands this is a growing problem and the only way to properly fix this is for legal, regulated betting to be available for the citizens of the state. Until that happens and some sort of a historic change arrives, this is a problem that Abbott and lawmakers are going to have to keep worrying about. This shouldn’t be the case.

In February, people were rushing to check the Super Bowl betting odds to put money down as well through off-shore accounts and illegal bookies. Abbott may be concerned about addiction, but the fact of the matter here is that people are going to find ways to place sports bets whenever they want to. It’s on home and members of the senate to try and find a solution for this, which would of course be making things legal.

Abbott is ready to see how things go down for sports betting

With all of that said, Abbott is ready to see how things go down for sports betting later this year. There are still several measures that need to be taken here. As we mentioned above, the pre-filed bill must be approved by both the house and senate before it can take the next step. If things go as planned, however, then it will be time to see where Abbott stands on things, but it’s all looking promising.

“It’s really just a form of entertainment,” Abbott said in his interview with USA Today about Texas and sports betting becoming legal. “And so it depends on how it’s constructed. And we’ll see how far it can advance in the House and Senate.”

At the end of the day, people in Texas have been calling for legal sports betting for a while now. Not only that, but Jerry Jones, Mark Cuban and other popular figures in the state have been trying to back the legalization for years too. Those two team owners know how big things could be for Texas if sports betting does arrive. Only time will tell what ends up happening here, but good news feels like it could be on the way soon. It’s time for sports betting to no longer just be a dream for people in Texas.

Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis Jr. comes from Mississippi where he and his family spend their days discussing college football and basketball. He's written sports journalism for years after studying journalism at a local university.