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Oklahoma lawmakers shut down another sports betting attempt on Wednesday. A Senate vote blocked a bill that aimed to legalize online sports betting and retail sportsbooks, leaving little time for a rescue before the legislative session ends in late May.
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Another Oklahoma sports betting push ran aground after the Senate voted down a bill that had already cleared the House in a narrower form last year. Lawmakers had let the proposal sit for more than a year before amending it earlier this month and sending it to the Senate floor.
The vote exposed the same split that has held up legalization for years. Some senators said legal betting would worsen problem gambling. Others rejected the tribal exclusive structure and wanted access for the state lottery, horse tracks, and non gaming businesses as well.
Under the proposal, Oklahomas gaming tribes would have held exclusive rights to an uncapped number of mobile sportsbooks. Nearly 100 tribal gaming facilities also could have opened retail sportsbooks. Bill sponsor Bill Coleman said he plans to seek another vote, though no schedule has been set.
If approved, the law would have taken effect on Nov. 1, with online betting and retail sportsbooks able to start as early as that day. Participating tribes would have worked together and split revenue, unlike systems in Michigan, Arizona, and Connecticut where one tribe usually pairs with one commercial sportsbook.
FanDuel backed the bill and estimated the measure could bring in $75 million to $100 million for the state over five years. In a statement provided to iGaming.org, a spokesperson said: “Oklahomans are already engaging in sports betting on unregulated offshore platforms – legalization would bring this activity into a safe, regulated market,” the spokesperson wrote. “FanDuel welcomes the opportunity to partner with tribal nations to build a responsible framework and encourages lawmakers to move this effort forward.”
Any qualified third party operator could have sought market access through a tribal partnership. That likely would have drawn FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, bet365, Fanatics, Hard Rock, and others. FanDuel and DraftKings alone account for roughly 75% of legal U.S. sports betting handle, while fewer than a dozen operators control more than 99% of the market.
The bill also used an unusual payment model. Tribes would have sent the state a share of betting handle rather than a tax on gross gaming revenue. After deductions, projections placed the effective rate near or below the roughly 10% median gaming revenue rate seen in many jurisdictions.
Up to $7 million per year also would have gone toward marketing tied to the NBA Oklahoma City Thunder. An earlier bill had included sportsbook access for the team, but lawmakers removed that part from the revised version.
Oklahoma remains one of 11 states without legal retail or mobile sportsbooks. Even so, the state already has more brick and mortar casinos per person than any other state and produces more than $6 billion in annual gaming revenue, equal to about 5% of annual gross domestic product in Oklahoma.