Gov. Greg Abbott is ready to allow online sports betting in Texas.
In an exclusive interview for the Texas Take Podcast, Abbott said he has no objection to the Texas Legislature passing a law to join 39 other states that have legalized online sports betting. He said he considers sports betting part of the entertainment of watching professional football and other sports.
“I don’t have a problem with online sports betting,” Abbott said in an interview at the governor’s mansion. “The reality is that I’d be shocked if there were not some Texans that do it already.”
The comments are some of the governor’s strongest in support of an industry that has ramped up its lobbying and political giving in recent years.