The Sooner The Better, Oklahoma Sports Betting Approved

• Two new Oklahoma Tribal-Gaming Compacts have been signed enabling legal sports betting in the state.
• The Otoe-Missouria and Comanche Nation Tribes both signed new compacts to begin offering retail and mobile gambling on sporting events in Oklahoma.
• Everything but Oklahoma college teams and collegiate sporting events occurring in the state are open for wagers under the new documents signed April 21.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Of the thirty-eight tribes that own gaming businesses in the Sooner State, two of them will now be opening sportsbooks at their establishments.

The Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, thought that the Tribal-Gaming Compacts had expired in his state last year, leaving terms open for a negotiation that could be more profitable with the Tribes.

Two of the Tribes, the Otoe-Missouria and Comanche Nation signed new compacts which will allow their facilities to offer sports betting in Oklahoma to customers while giving a higher percentage of money to the economy in the Sooner State.

The Sports Betting Deal

Other Tribes in the state were disinterested in new gaming compacts, sticking to the idea that compacts renew automatically and therefore were not expired nor up for negotiation. However, all the Tribes in Oklahoma were offered the deal that the Otoe-Missouria and Comanche Nation signed yet all turned it down to continue with their old gaming-compacts.

The Otoe-Missouria and Comanche Nation both signed new gaming-compacts with the Sooner State on April 21.

Each Tribe will initially be limited to open two sportsbooks at any one of their casino locations. They will be allowed to open mobile sports betting platforms for their patrons but the applications can only be used on Tribal lands and will therefore need to incorporate geofencing within their technology.

All sporting events will be open for wagers, including esports. But all Oklahoma collegiate sports are prohibited from bets. Not only that, but any college sports event that takes place within state lines is also not up for betting.

The state, in return for permitting these Tribes to add numerous gaming options to their compacts, will receive a bigger percentage than the original 4%-6% tax rate they had with the previous compacts.

“This modernized gaming compact expands opportunities for our tribal partners, enhances revenue for the State from Class III and Covered Games, and will strengthen State-Tribal relations for generations to come,” said Governor Stitt.

 

“Each gaming compact has unique elements, to include individual flat-rate gaming fees on Class III games and Covered Games. This new fee structure recognizes the dynamic nature of each tribe’s market share, recognizing their geographic location and access to population centers. Moving forward, the State will continue to negotiate with individual tribes, leaving behind the one-size-fits-all approach to the Model Gaming Compact.”

Moving Forward

Under the new gaming-compacts that will be enacted once ratified, the Tribes will have more opportunities to expand in the future with their legal sports betting activities.

They will be able to open five more locations for sportsbooks that can be non-tribal establishments. It is the idea that these places will more than likely be race tracks.

Taxes paid to the state will not be based on revenue, instead having to pay a percentage on the handle from all gambling on sporting events that is made. Taxes on sports betting will be set at 1.10% according to the new documents.

Of the five future locations that can be opened, the Tribes will have the ability to offer these locations to other Tribes. Although, that will come with its own restrictions as the licenses to operate will be leased to the Tribe that isn’t under the newest gaming-compact.

Once the documents have been sealed as they’ve already been signed, the Otoe-Missouria and Comanche Nation can open up their two retail sportsbooks immediately and begin business as well as open their mobile sports betting applications.

News tags: Comanche Nation Tribe | Kevin Stitt | Oklahoma | Oklahoma sports betting | Otoe-Missouria Tribe