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Monday, January 20th 2025, 10:39 pm
State lawmakers have filed several bills to bring sports betting to Oklahoma. Despite having 143 casinos, Oklahoma is one of just 12 states without legalized sports betting.
Voters in Missouri approved sports betting in the November election. That means Texas is now the only state surrounding Oklahoma without legalized sports wagering.
Oklahoma lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed interest, but disagreements between Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office and tribes have delayed progress.
Republican state Sen. Casey Murdock has filed Senate Bill 164 to legalize sports betting. It’s similar to a bill he filed in past years, endorsed by the governor, that would offer both mobile and in-person betting.
Murdock says Oklahomans have overwhelmingly told him they want sports betting, and he says money leaves the state every day.
“I went to a conference last summer on sports betting, and a company that does the geo-fencing was explaining how all that works. And they showed me the map of Oklahoma and people on I-35 headed to Kansas trying to place bets. Every time they placed bets while still in Oklahoma, it’d pop up red. So you saw all these red dots going up I-35, and as soon as they got into Kansas, you saw massive amounts of green dots,” said Murdock.
Lawmakers, though, say no progress will be possible until the tribes—who have casino exclusivity—and the governor, who would sign any bill, come together for talks.
The Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association has said in the past it is open to conversations but wants to protect its exclusivity.
Meanwhile, some industry experts have suggested tribes may wait for a new governor to take office in 2027 before having conversations. However, those talks could move faster if Texas were to legalize sports betting before the end of Stitt’s term.
Sen. Dave Rader of Tulsa has also filed a sports betting bill this year and tells us he’s hopeful but not all that optimistic about it passing.
The legislative session starts in two weeks.
Jonathan Cooper is the weekend evening anchor and reporter for News on 6. He is no stranger to Oklahoma, working for the ABC affiliate in Oklahoma City for the past three years.
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