Tribal Gaming, Sports Betting Leaders Gather At OKC Conference

More than 2,000 tribal leaders welcomed some of the world’s largest gambling companies to Oklahoma City.

Front and center Wednesday was the topic of sports betting. Oklahoma is one of only 12 states to not have any form of legal sports wagering.

Big-name companies like MGM, Fan Duel, and Playtech were represented at a round table conversation in front of tribal leaders.

With college and NFL football soon underway, the panelist said illegal bets will be made across Oklahoma leaving the tribes and tax dollars on the sidelines.

“Ultimately, it’s going to take a willing state government and a willing set of tribes to make it happen,” FanDuel Senior Vice President Jonathan Edson said.

He told the crowd the Oklahoma market was ripe for the picking. “Our estimates put it at half a billion dollars’ worth of gross gaming revenue here once you start to get to maturity,” Edson said.

Often on the minds of many Oklahoma leaders is our neighbor to the south. Texas is still sitting on the sidelines of not only sports wagering but casino gambling operations in general.

BetMGM Development Manager Patrick Tarnay said that only increases the stakes for passing sports wagering in Oklahoma. The Texas state legislature only meets once every two years. Next year in 2025 the Texas lawmakers will be in session.

“There’s been some powerful people that are dead set against it so hopes are rather low so if legislation doesn’t go through in 2025 again that’s a great opportunity for Oklahoma to jump on this.

“We have a lot of models, a lot of lessons learned that we can take advantage of," Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association Chairman Matthew Morgan said.

He said any Oklahoma agreement on sports wagering would be a supplemental agreement to the tribes existing gaming compact with the state.

“Our tribal leaders have been waiting to have that conversation. We haven’t had it yet,” Morgan said. “We’ve had some conversation 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.”

In the past House Speaker Charles McCall has been open to advancing sports betting in his chamber while the Republican leader of the state Senate Greg Treat has been more reluctant. Both of those men are term-limited before the coming session – renewing hopes of that sports betting could get across the finish line.