Tribal officials and state lawmakers said they were not consulted about Gov. Kevin Stitt’s new plan to introduce sports betting.
While Stitt was in Israel, his office announced an unexpected plan Thursday to legalize sports betting. It included details on how mobile and in-person sports betting would be taxed and who could offer new formats of gaming.
Tribal reactions to the proposal have ranged from curiosity to outright negativity, with all tribal stakeholders saying the best way to legalize sports betting in Oklahoma is for the state and tribes to work together. agreed.
Under Stitt’s proposal, Oklahoma tribes would have exclusive rights to offer in-person sports betting, subject to a 15% tax on revenue.
However, the governor’s proposal for mobile sports betting does not offer similar exclusivity to tribes and may not be a starting point for some.
In exchange, vendors willing to pay $500,000 in license fees and $100,000 in annual fees will be eligible to offer mobile games that Oklahomans can bet on online. On that profit she is subject to 20% tax.
As a result of state-tribal gaming agreements, Oklahoma tribes have the sole right to offer gaming within the state. Any proposal to legalize sports betting without their support is unlikely to pass the Oklahoma Legislature.
Choctaw Chief Gary Batton said Stitt did not seek input from the tribe.
“Upon initial review, we do not believe this plan represents the best interests of the people of Oklahoma or the tribal nations that have done so much to support Oklahoma,” he said in a statement. Ta.
Button did not elaborate on what he would like to see changed.
Stitt also did not contact the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association about his plans, said Chairman Matthew Morgan.
“OIGA members have been preparing to receive sports betting offers from the state for several years and are grateful that Governor Stitt is finally joining the sports betting discussion, but until now, has not engaged in meaningful and respectful “government-to-government discussions with tribes,” Morgan said in a statement.
Any attempt to legalize sports betting would need to involve Congress and additional gaming agreements that protect tribes’ “substantive gaming monopoly,” he said.
“Otherwise, you’re just setting yourself up for failure,” he says.
Over the past year, Stitt has been an outspoken supporter of legalizing sports betting in Oklahoma.
A bill to legalize sports gaming passed the House this year but stalled in the Senate. House Bill 1027 proposes adding in-person and mobile sports betting as a supplement to the state’s model gaming agreements with tribes, which could be reinstated during the legislative session starting in February.
“I promised Oklahoma that if we were going to pursue sports betting, we would do it right, and this plan does just that,” Stitt said in a Thursday news release. “Thirty-five states have already legalized sports betting, and it will be a significant revenue source for states. Tribes will be able to add it to their existing infrastructure, and Oklahomans will be able to access it directly from their mobile phones. ”
Spokespeople for the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore said Stitt did not discuss his plan with legislative leaders before Thursday’s announcement.
Sen. Bill Coleman (R-Ponca City), a co-author of HB 1027, said the governor has never contacted him to provide input on sports betting.
Coleman said in a news release that he expects the tribes will be reluctant to accept Stitt’s proposal because it calls for them to give up their online share of sports gaming, which accounts for 95% of the nation’s total revenue. Online sports betting is much more popular than in-person sportsbooks at casinos and other venues.
“The governor’s plan may be a starting point, but I’m interested to see if the governor has communicated and worked with our tribal partners to get their input,” Coleman said. “Lack of coordination between the executive branch and tribal leadership was the primary reason our bill stalled in this Congress. It is imperative that Governor Stitt works in good faith with our tribal partners as we address this.”
Mr. Stitt has had a rocky relationship with many tribes since he failed to renegotiate Oklahoma’s tribal gaming agreements in an attempt to increase revenue for the state.
Chickasaw Tribe Secretary of Commerce Dan Bolen said his tribe would like to know more about Stitt’s plan and how it fits into the context of the current state-tribe gaming agreement. Ta.
“We believe that working together on these important and complex issues is essential to developing an agreement that respects the rights and responsibilities of federal, state, and tribal governments,” he said in a statement. .
Last year, the tribe paid the state $191.5 million in gaming fees on more than $3 billion in revenue.
Stitt’s sports game plan would prohibit betting on the performance of individual players, coaches or referees. Bettors will no longer be able to bet on player injuries or place suggested bets on college sports.