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Oklahoma’s Legal Sports Betting Pursuit Dead in the Water
By Jeff Osienya Dec 15, 2020 LegalitySports betting doesn’t seem to be a priority for Oklahoma tribes after a federal ruling nullified Gov. Stitt’s renegotiated compact. However, the need for more revenue after the pandemic’s economic blow could push lawmakers to reconsider it in 2021.Since the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) by the Supreme Court of the US in May 2018, the floodgates of a regulated sports betting market were opened. Two and a half years later, a total of 19 states and the District of Columbia seized the new opening to permit legal betting on sports events. Moreover, three more states, Virginia, North Carolina, and Washington have recently followed in the same footsteps by passing legislation that will help develop a framework that will guide a sports betting launch in the coming months.
Let’s also not forget that residents in Louisiana, Maryland, and South Dakota gave their official consent to the same sports betting subject via ballot in last month’s general election. If the launch of regulated sports betting markets in the state carries on at the same pace, it appears that by the end of 2021, over 50% of the states in the US will be allowing their residents to bet on sports legally.
Meanwhile, as the US sports betting landscape continues to thrive despite Covid-19 setbacks, generating millions of dollars in profit for operators and tax revenue for respective state coffers, other states seem to be taking a step forward and two steps back. One such state is Oklahoma where the tribes seem to be adamant on the introduction of any other type of gaming within state lines.
Oklahoma Gaming Compact Dispute Settled After a Futile Fight
In the Sooner State, the question of sports betting has been under discussion several times this year but it has failed to gain any traction. There has been a lengthy legal dispute with Governor Kevin Stitt when he moved to legalize sports betting via two Tribal Gaming Compacts with the Comanche Nation and Otoe-Missouria Tribe in April. Later in July, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma intervened and the judges vetoed the compacts after a lawsuit was brought against the governor’s actions.
Gov. Stitt had tried tooth and nail to fight the supreme court’s decision, trying to find leeway to renegotiate the compacts with the tribes in a bid to bring in more funding to the state, but his efforts were futile. Many of the governor’s supporters had hoped that tribal sports betting could have been used to sweeten the said deal, where Governor Stitt was negotiating higher exclusivity fees for tribal gaming in the state.
In the July ruling, US District Judge Timothy DeGiusti stated that the initial tribal gaming compacts were automatically renewed for another 15 years, provided other non-tribal entities were authorized to offer electronic gaming on top of pari-mutuel wagering. This meant that starting 1st January 2020, the initial tribal gaming compacts that had expired at the end of 2019 were renewed automatically for 15 more years. With the federal ruling, Kevin Stitt finally threw in the towel and decided not to appeal the court’s decision, and even released a statement citing his readiness to work with the tribal leaders.
What Does the Future Hold for Sports Betting in Oklahoma?
Now that Gov. Stitt agreed to the court’s ruling, the hopes for sports betting in Oklahoma any time soon have essentially been turned to dust. The tribes have even gone as far as expressing their lack of urgent interest in welcoming sports betting in the state by indicating that they are good with how things are in the current compacts. Matthew Morgan, the chairperson of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association came forward to say that;
Quote“There’s no clock ticking on when this needs to get done. I guess it could come up the next legislative session, but it may not. I don’t think you’d see most tribal leaders in a hurry to get this done. It needs to be done correctly. And that’s probably going to take time. That relationship between the governor and tribal leaders needs to be repaired.”
What is left is to hold on and see whether anything will materialize in legislative sessions next year, a process that’s surely going to take time as Morgan indicated. After all, the Sooner State does require more funds given the financial problems they are in as a result of the pandemic. Had Gov. Stitt’s efforts born fruits the state would have taken a well-calculated shortcut to a regulated sports betting debut this year!
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