Oklahoma Sports Betting Fails to Gain Traction

Republicans’ most recent attempts to legalize sports betting in Oklahoma faced significant obstacles due to ongoing disputes between the governor and the state’s tribes, according to a senior gaming official. Despite Gov. Kevin Stitt’s public push to allow sports betting during the previous session, according to Matthew Morgan, chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, there didn’t seem to be much enthusiasm to carry it through to completion. “Any discussion of sports betting really never left the ground after that because there was just too much posturing, too much disagreement on how the industry worked,” Morgan said.

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In addition, he claimed that none of the 25 tribes that make up his association have received any “genuine outreach” or attempts on the matter from state leaders. Morgan believes that tribal chiefs would be amenable to talks about an arrangement that would work within the parameters of their current compacts. He said, though, that the tribes had no interest in signing additional agreements or incurring unnecessary financial obligations.

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which forbade state-sponsored sports gambling with certain exceptions, Republican lawmakers have been trying in vain for years to legalize sports betting. Furthermore, Stitt shocked legislators and tribes in November with his own proposal to legalize it. But there was instant opposition to his idea. Leaders of the tribe claimed Stitt never sought their input while creating the plan. Even though it gave tribes the only authority to run land-based casinos, it also gave any vendor ready to shell up $500,000 to obtain a license to run mobile gaming.

At the time, detractors pointed out that 95% of revenue came from internet wagers and that state-tribal gaming compacts still in effect gave tribes the sole authority to run gambling operations. While this was going on, Stitt and tribe chiefs had a tense relationship because of his false claim that the current gaming compacts did not automatically renew during an unsuccessful attempt to renegotiate the conditions.

Sen. Casey Murdock, a Republican from Felt, who introduced SB 1434 in the 2024 legislative session, expressed uncertainty about the reason behind the bill’s failure. He thought that his legislation was “fair to every Oklahoman.” Murdock’s proposed law, which would have permitted anyone to offer mobile sports betting, was quite similar to Stitt’s idea. That was voted down by the appropriations committee.

“I think when we made the compacts on gambling, we never even looked at sports betting, and especially mobile betting on your mobile phones,” Murdock said. “This is totally new, and I think we should start over and make it fair for every Oklahoman.”

With HB 1027 during the 2023 legislative session, the most promising attempt to legalize sports betting was made. The bill did not proceed further after passing the House. The tribes could have been able to offer sports betting if it had given them a compact supplement. The bill’s author, Sen. Bill Coleman, a Republican from Ponca City, stated that he receives frequent correspondence from voters who want sports betting. Coleman said passing a bill like HB 1027 is not a “one and done,” and it is typical for a bill like that to take two or three years to pass. “You’ve got the governor, you’ve got the tribes, you’ve got the Legislature, you’ve got plenty of people that are giving input, and it just takes time to get everybody to get on the same page,” Coleman said. Coleman said that he still thinks sports betting legislation in Oklahoma could be passed within the next year. Check out the latest sports betting odds at Prime Sports.