The House Appropriations and Budget Committee of Oklahoma has approved HB 3008, which would legalize sports betting at tribal casinos. The vote was 28-3.
The House has until March 24 to pass a version of the bill and hand it over to the Senate. The legislative session ends May 27.
The bill would allow tribal casinos to offer retail sports betting under the existing tribal state gaming compacts—as long as at least four tribes agree. The tribes would pay 10 percent of net sports betting revenue to the state. The bill would become effective November 1.
There are 131 tribal casinos in Oklahoma.
Rep. Ken Luttrell, author of the bill, commented, “I have had conversations with our gaming tribes during the interim to gauge their interest on this topic.” He added, “I feel the time is right for Oklahoma to partner with the tribes and ensure a level, competitive gaming playing field with the surrounding states.”
Luttrell claims sports betting could generate as much as $240 million in revenue for the state.
So far the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association’s members have not endorsed the bill. Matthew Morgan, chairman of the association, told Play USA: “Almost all of the association is very interested in sports betting.”
He added, “But we do have some folks that are very interested in the mobile aspect of sports betting, which Rep. Luttrell’s bill does not capture. And we also have some concerns from our members on what [the] fee split would look like given the low margin of sports betting. I think they would like to see that reworked in a way that would make them more likely to support something in that way.”
