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Unfortunately for all of the Oklahoma sports betting proponents, there will be no legal wagers arriving soon. Not long ago, it was announced that the sports betting bill that had been in the world didn’t make the deadline to be pushed forward. Now, sports betting in Oklahoma is going to be delayed by another year, with 2025 looking like the year when things will arrive. With that said, Oklahoma officials are urging the governor to talk with tribes about sports betting.
The recent project in the works was the House Bill 1027, which had a lot of promise to get done. Sports fans loved the bill and they have voiced their support for things. However, legislation wasn’t passed in this case and now everyone is waiting to see what will happen next. Plenty of lawmakers and officials have wasted no time in reaching out to Governor Kevin Stitt, asking him to do his part in figuring things out.
“My opinion is that it was missing a conversation between the governor and the tribes. I think those two parties really need to sit down and work out on sports betting,” State senator Bill Coleman said shortly after it was announced that House Bill 1027 was dead in the water.”
Coleman isn’t the only one who is not happy with the way things have played out here. More than 30 states in the USA have legalized sports gambling. This year, Ohio launched things on Jan. 1 and they’ve already recorded a revenue of more than $500 million since. Those stats are wild to think about and it shows how popular betting can be once it’s regulated. People all over Oklahoma want to see the same thing happen to their state, but no one knows when that day will come.
A bill allowing sports betting in Oklahoma is dead for this legislative session.
House Bill 1027 would've allowed in person and mobile sports betting under the state-tribal model gaming compact.https://t.co/isGiK6BHFE
— KOSU (@KOSURadio) April 23, 2023
No football betting this fall is a major loss for Oklahoma
It goes without saying, but no football betting this fall is a major loss for Oklahoma and people aren’t happy about it. With the popularity of college football, people wouldn’t have wasted any time checking the NCAAF betting odds to place bets on both the Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State Cowboys. They are easily the two most popular teams in the state, with tons of talent on both sides.
Every season, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have star players who impress not only the fans, but NFL scouts as well. Once the NFL Draft arrives, you’re always seeing players from these teams hear their names called. This in turn leads to people checking the NFL betting odds leading up to the draft to see the odds for their favorite players potentially getting drafted in the first round of things.
🤫🤫🤫@_dellron @ethandowns40 #OUDNA https://t.co/RD2sUNDJtk
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) June 12, 2023
Speaking of the NFL, Oklahoma doesn’t have a pro team in the state, but that doesn’t mean that people don’t follow the league on a week-to-week basis. People in Oklahoma are always going to pay close attention to teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys and more. With the Chiefs, they just won the Super Bowl last campaign and they’re the favorites to repeat as champs.
Patrick Mahomes is the best player in the game and he surely has a ton of fans in Oklahoma too. If there was legal betting, you already know that people wouldn’t waste time placing their money down on the Chiefs to win and Mahomes to have a big game. However, that’s not going to be available for people in the state for a while. There was hope that things would get done by the fall, just in time for the NFL and NCAAF campaigns. However, that won’t be the case, which is a bummer.
The tribes and state officials need to get on the same page
With all of that said, one of the main takeaways from all of these betting conversations is that the tribes and state officials need to get on the same page as soon as possible. There’s clearly a bit of a divide, which is causing things to keep getting delayed. This is something that can’t keep happening if people in Oklahoma are serious about one day getting sports betting permitted.
The tribes have made their stance clear. However, with there being a bit of friction between this group and the government, it’s only going to make things tougher from a sports betting standpoint. This is why senators and lawmakers are hoping that everyone can meet and get to work together. This is the only way that the right sports betting bill will get drawn up and one day be put into place.
As of now, though, the conversations clearly haven’t been good ones. The longer things drag out here, the worse it’s going to be for sports fans. People in Oklahoma are tired of having to travel to outside states to place their legal sports wagers. They should have the right to be able to do that from the comfort of their own home or via a local sportsbook. At this point, it’s quite unclear when that day will come.
