Oklahoma Tribal Gaming Leaders Hope to Bring Sports Betting to the State

To try and change the state’s fortunes, 2,000 tribal leaders met with representatives of sports betting and gambling companies in Oklahoma City recently to discuss the potential legalization of sports gambling.

The meeting mostly focused on acknowledging the realities on the ground – without regulated gambling, illegal gambling will continue to take precedence, and people will spend hundreds of millions worth of dollars on sports wagers every year either outside the state or with offshore operators.

Tribal Gaming Leaders Open Up to Legal Sports Gambling

The NFL season is fast approaching, and Oklahoma still has no local market to satisfy demand. With a population of just 4 million people, Oklahoma is a minnow state, but an important part of the larger sports betting puzzle in the United States, one that has been mostly overlooked until now.

The message the meeting sent was clear-cut and well-picked – legalize sports gambling to send millions worth of tax dollars to the state’s coffer. FanDuel SVP Jonathan Edson was similarly concerned with the sprawl of illegal gambling across the state.

“Ultimately, it’s going to take a willing state government and a willing set of tribes to make it happen. Our estimates put it at half a billion dollars’ worth of gross gaming revenue here once you start to get to maturity,” he said cited by News9, a local media outfit.

The good news is local tribes, who have been mostly sceptical of the industry, seem to be warming up to a sports gambling landscape in which they play a central role. Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association Chairman Matthew Morgan was similarly pleased with the opportunity, arguing that it was regrettable to see legislative opposition persist when the benefits of regulated gambling are obvious.

“Our tribal leaders have been waiting to have that conversation. We haven’t had it yet. We’ve had some conversations around the topic, but nothing that comes in the form of a government-to-government consultation across the table from each other. I think that’s what we’re waiting on,” he was cited saying.

Oklahoma Misses Deadline for Sports Betting in 2024

This year, Senate Bill 1434 which would have allowed Oklahoma to legalize the sports betting market this year was defeated and could not pass by the April cut-off deadline. Gov Kevin Stitt, though, is supportive of the issue and has advised pro-betting advocates to continue working with their colleagues to garner sufficient support and pass the measure in the next legislative session.

Oklahoma will not benefit from the upcoming NFL sports betting season, but it might make it in time for the 2025 one. Meanwhile, plans are supposedly ongoing to expand the brick-and-mortar casino sector, including a rumored Las Vegas-style resort, which the Cherokee Nation confirmed that it was not yet pursuing.