Oklahoma House passes tribal sports betting bill

House Bill 1027 will move forward to the Senate.

US.- A bill to bring sports betting to Oklahoma has passed the House by a 66-26 vote. House Bill 1027, filed by representative Ken Luttrell, will now pass over into the Senate where it will be assigned to a committee.

The bill would allow in-person and retail sports betting to be conducted by tribes that already have gaming compacts with the state. The final version of the legislation will need approval from both the House and Senate before it can be passed to governor Kevin Stitt for final sign-off.

Some 35 tribes currently offer some form of gambling in Oklahoma. The bill proposed that the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission oversee sports betting so long as the tribal nations agree to a tribal-state compact. Tribal operators would have to pay 4 per cent of gross gaming revenue on the first $5m of annual revenue, 5 per cent on the next $5m of gross revenue and 6 per cent of revenue above that.

Of the taxes raised, 12 per cent would go to the general revenue fund and 88 per cent to the Education Reform Revolving Fund.

Luttrell said legal sports betting would add about $9m a year to the state budget. “Right now, Oklahoma is missing out on a huge financial opportunity for both our state and our tribes.” he added. “Oklahomans are traveling across state lines to participate in sports betting, and we’re losing those dollars. It makes economic sense to provide sports betting as an option.”

This is the second year in a row that Luttrell has filed a bill to legalise sports betting. House floor representatives did not vote on the issue last year.

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