‘A gaming version of the Great Wolf Lodge’: How Governor Greg Abbott sees casinos in Texas

Before Gov. Greg Abbott says what kind of expanded gambling he would support in Texas, he describes what he doesn’t want to see.

He wants to avoid gaming operations at every corner store. He doesn’t want a slot machine to be the first thing people see when they exit an airport jet bridge.

“If it can be built in a way that is, kind of like a professional operation that provides a form of entertainment for people, that’s something I can be open to,” Abbott told the Star-Telegram in a Thursday interview.

He said the idea that comes to mind is a destination resort, like those being proposed by Las Vegas Sands through the Texas Destination Resort Alliance.

“It’s a gaming version of the Great Wolf Lodge,” Abbott said.

But gambling expansion would need to come with safeguards, Abbott said.

“We both need and kind of have an obligation to make sure that we will not be setting up a system where people without means are using money that they need to pay their bills, to gamble it away and maybe lose it,” he said. “We need to safeguard against that, as well as make sure no operation is being set up that would lead to any type of crime.”

A bill backed by the Texas Destination Resort Alliance and filed by Fort Worth Republican Charlie Geren would let voters decide through a constitutional amendment whether to allow for seven such resorts in the state, including two in North Texas: Casinos with other amenities like hotels, restaurants, meeting spaces, entertainment venues and shopping centers. His legislation would also legalize sports betting, if approved by voters.

A bill laying out the regulatory framework for gaming in Texas was filed Friday by Rep. John Kuempel, a Seguin Republican. Kuempel’s office said it’s the enabling legislation for Geren’s proposal were it approved on a ballot. Expanding casino gambling or sports betting in Texas requires constitutional amendments, which go to voters rather than Abbott’s desk for a signature

In addition to Geren’s bill, which is set up to work in coordination with existing horse and greyhound racing licenses, proposals to allow casino gambling have been filed by Sen. Carol Alvarado and Rep. Harold Dutton, both Houston Democrats.

Dutton’s bill would permit up to one casino in five counties: Bexar, Dallas, El Paso, Galveston and Harris. Alvarado’s bill, like Geren’s, would authorize a limited number of “destination resort” casinos and allow sports wagering. It would also allow for limited casino gambling at horse and greyhound racetracks. Her proposal has been referred to the Senate’s State Affairs Committee.

The Texas Sands PAC has donated more than $2 million to Democratic and Republican candidates, including $200,000 to Abbott. The wife of late Sand’s chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson, Miriam Adelson, donated $1 million to Abbott in September.

When it comes to mobile sports betting, Abbott said he knows the majority of Texans support it and that he’ll look into it more.

“I’m such a sports fan, and I see people doing this, and it’s really a form of entertainment for them, and it’s also kind of related to these sports leagues — like fantasy football, things like that — that people participate in,” Abbott said. “Fantasy sports is such a big thing in Texas already. It seems like there could be a way where we could create a system where something like this could happen.”

For those wondering if Abbott plays fantasy sports: “I do claim to be the former champion of a fantasy basketball league,” he said.

A poll by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston found that 69% of those polled either somewhat or strongly supported legal online and in-person sports betting. Seventy-five percent either somewhat or strongly supported Alvarado’s proposal for casinos and sports wagering in Texas.

Plano Republican Jeff Leach and Brenham Republican Sen. Lois Kolkhorst have filed bills that would allow people to vote on whether or not to legalize online sports betting in Texas.The legislation is supported by he Texas Sports Betting Alliance, whose partners include the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars, Dallas Mavericks, FC Dallas, the Texas Rangers, Texas Motor Speedway, BetMGM, DraftKings and FanDuel.