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Is Oklahoma in Line for Legal Betting in 2023?

Flores Brian

Updated as of 4:50 PM EST on February 17, 2023. Read time: 2 minutes and 52 seconds. Find more information on Twitter and Google News.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder dunks the ball while Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans watches during the third quarter at Paycom Center on February 13, 2023. Is Oklahoma making progress on legal betting?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder dunks the ball while Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans watches during the third quarter at Paycom Center on February 13, 2023 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images via AFP.

It appears that Oklahoma has begun the process of legalizing betting.

House Bill 1027 was unanimously approved by the Oklahoma House Appropriations and Budget subcommittee. The bill would allow local tribes in Oklahoma to provide retail and online sports betting services.

Rep. Ken Luttrell, a Cherokee Nation citizen and chair of the subcommittee, has been a strong advocate for legalizing sports betting in Oklahoma. Despite a previous unsuccessful attempt in 2022, he presented HB 1027 once again. Sen. Bill Coleman, a fellow Republican from Luttrell’s Ponca City, joined as the bill’s author in the Senate. After clearing the House Appropriations subcommittee, HB 1027 must now pass the full House Appropriations and Budget Committee before advancing to the House floor.

If the bill successfully reaches the House floor and passes, it would then move to a Senate committee for review before being scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor. Ultimately, Governor Kevin Stitt would need to give his approval for the bill to become law.

The path to Oklahoma sports betting

With the most tribal casinos of any state, Oklahoma is home to thirty-five of its 38 federally recognized tribes that have signed gaming compacts with the state. If passed, HB 1027 would permit sports betting in Oklahoma through all tribal gaming compacts, enabling the state’s 143 tribal casinos to offer sports betting services.

Top online sportsbooks such as FanDuel and DraftKings could form partnerships with tribes in Oklahoma to offer statewide mobile sports betting. Tribes would need to agree to share a percentage of their annual gross revenue from sports betting, starting at 4% of the first $5 million and increasing to 5% of the next $5 million, then 6% of all subsequent revenue.

Senator Coleman stated that approving sports betting in the Sooner State could potentially generate $240 million in revenue and create over 3,000 jobs.

Gov. Stitt wanted to legalize sports betting in Oklahoma in 2020 by approving two renegotiated compacts that included “event wagering,” which was another term for sports betting. However, former Attorney General Mike Hunter disagreed, leading to a lawsuit filed against Stitt by Senate and House leaders.

In July 2020, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ultimately ruled against Stitt, putting the state’s sports betting plans back to square one. Despite this setback, Stitt continues to advocate for the legalization of sports betting in Oklahoma, with the goal of maximizing revenue for important priorities such as education.

The leaders of the 35 tribes in Oklahoma who operate gaming have not reached a consensus yet. If HB 1027 passes through the 59th Legislature before its adjournment on May 26, the proposed legislation is expected to take effect on November 1, 2023, coinciding with the upcoming football season.

A missed opportunity for Oklahoma sports betting

Oklahoma is one of only 14 states that currently do not permit retail or online sports betting. Despite bordering five other states, three of which have legalized sports betting, Oklahoma has yet to enter the market.

Just before the start of the 2022 NFL season, Kansas launched its online sports betting market, with six mobile sportsbooks now operating in the state and accepting wagers.

Oklahoma has small boundaries with Colorado and New Mexico, both of which currently have legal sports betting markets. Colorado stands out as the frontier of the U.S. sports betting industry, offering residents and visitors a wide range of sports gambling options with 26 online operators. On the other hand, New Mexico only permits sports betting at tribal casinos and does not have any active mobile sportsbooks at this time.

After nearly three years of only offering retail sports betting, Arkansas finally launched online sports betting in March 2022. Nearby states like Texas and Missouri, who do not yet have legal markets, are currently exploring legislation to potentially change that.

Lawmakers in both the Texas state Senate and House have sparked discussions about potentially legalizing sports betting in Texas. Similarly, there are several bills in the Missouri legislature that may pave the way for legalized sports betting in the state.

Could 2023 finally be the year that sports betting becomes a reality in Oklahoma?

Written By:
Flores Brian
Grant is a former junior B ice hockey player, and a current believer that the Washington Capitals’ aging core still has another Cup run left in the tank. Grant’s owned and operated his own marketing agency since shortly after graduating from Virginia Tech in 2014. He pursued the profession because he figured it’d be a great way to get paid to do something he loves to do, write. After years of hammering puck lines and leading his fantasy football league as Commissioner, Grant started writing about sports betting and the casino gaming industry in 2021 and hasn’t looked back.