Sports Gambling Legal In Oklahoma

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The status of Oklahoma sports betting remains unclear as the governor and attorney general remain on opposite sides of the issue.

Oklahoma has no domestic sports gambling opportunities. The state has not considered domestic sports betting legalization and may not for a long time. However, no American federal gambling law directly prohibits US players from accessing and gambling on offshore sportsbooks.

Gov. Kevin Stitt approved OK sports betting on tribal land when he renegotiated two tribal gaming compacts. The compacts, signed with the Comanche Nation and Otoe-Missouria Tribe, permitted betting on all but in-state college teams and in-state college events.

The compacts specifically stipulate two retail locations for each tribe at their tribal casinos. Mobile is allowed as long as it is geofenced to the property.

  • One can safely conclude that betting on sports at offshore online sportsbooks is quite legal in Oklahoma. Title 21 of the state’s formal laws list all the gambling legislation so far passed in OK, and you can read the contents of this section (21-941 et seq.) here.
  • Oklahoma Legal Online Sports Betting, Laws And More Oklahoma is currently in the process of legalizing sports betting after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled PASPA, the federal law prohibiting states from passing sports betting legislation, unconstitutional.
  • Legal sports betting options in Oklahoma Right now, there are no options to place legal bets in Oklahoma. Any sportsbooks that claim they can accept bets from someone in Oklahoma at this point is an unlicensed offshore operator. That means anyone placing a bet with that operator has no consumer protections through US laws.

The compacts further say the state could authorize up to five non-tribal retail Oklahoma sports betting locations in the future.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter quickly disagreed with the governor’s actions the same day the compacts were announced. He later published a formal opinion outlining why Stitt lacks the authority to offer sports betting.

Sports Gambling Legal In Oklahoma

The governor is only allowed to authorize tribes to operate games that are listed in the state’s Tribal Gaming Act. Sports betting, or event betting as it’s called in the compacts, is not listed in the Act.

The future of Oklahoma sports betting

At this point, it’s tough to say what will happen with Oklahoma sports betting. Gov. Stitt hedged his stance on sports betting in Oklahoma with specific text in each compact:

“For the avoidance of doubt, even if it should be found that the State’s conduct of Event Wagering is in violation of the State’s obligations, if any, under compacts with other Oklahoma tribes, such a finding shall have no effect on the Tribe’s right to engage in Event Wagering.”

That makes it pretty clear that Stitt doesn’t seem to think the state has any say in those tribal operations.

The compacts have not yet been approved by the federal Department of the Interior.

When will online Oklahoma sports betting launch?

If the two approved tribes move forward with their compact as negotiated, the answer could be fairly soon, though it comes with a significant catch.

The use of mobile devices will be limited to when bettors are actually on the tribal property. That means as soon as the bettor leaves the casino, they won’t be able to utilize that mobile betting app anymore.

Tribes could always push for more in future compact negotiations to allow for an open statewide mobile market.

Recent Oklahoma sports betting news

Oklahoma Sports Betting Nixed By State Supreme Court

Oklahoma sports betting is over before it even started. Read More

There has been no shortage of drama surrounding the legal sports betting industry in the state of Oklahoma. Just when things started to move forward toward legalization of the platform, the state has taken a major step back with a 7-1 Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling striking down the gaming compacts Gov. Kevin Stitt signed with two Native American tribes in April, which would have allowed for sports betting, house-banked card and table games and the building of new casinos off tribal lands. Essentially, the top court in the land ruled that the governor overstepped his authority in negotiating for tribal sports betting, which sends the idea of legal sports wagers in Oklahoma back to square one.

The lawsuit was originally brought by Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat and House Speaker Charles McCall who claimed that Gov. Stitt didn’t have the authority to change compacts and laws in the state of Oklahoma. The Court ruled that Stitt lacked the authority “to bind the State with respect to the new tribal gaming compacts with the Comanche Nation and Otoe-Missouria Tribes.”

“The tribal gaming compacts Governor Stitt entered into with the Comanche Nation and Otoe-Missouria tribes are invalid under Oklahoma law,” the opinion reads. “The State of Oklahoma is not and cannot be legally bound by those compacts until such time as the Legislature enacts laws to allow the specific Class III gaming at issue, and in turn, allowing the Governor to negotiate additional revenue.”

A Little Background on the Oklahoma Drama

The Oklahoma tribes have a ton of clout with regard to the legal gambling industry in the state. Compact in the state give the tribes the right to pursue legal gambling at tribal casinos – something that didn’t include sports betting until recently when the governor tried to include the subject in negotiations for new compacts with a couple of the tribes. Governor Stitt had a chance to extend compacts that had run out January 1 for another 15 years but instead opted to renegotiate to the surprise of lawmakers in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma

His new negotiations included “event wagering” in compacts with the Otoe-Missouria Tribe and Comanche Nations. Sports betting, including esports, would fall under the “event wagering” umbrella if Stitt had his way and the new tribal compacts would allow the Nations in question to dramatically expand their betting platforms.

Sports Gambling Legal In OklahomaIs online sports gambling legal in oklahoma

Lawsuits have been initiated by lawmakers hoping to check the governor’s power and by some of the tribes left out of the compact negotiations that Stitt entered into and ultimately completed without due process.

More Legal Issues With Compacts in the State

Governor Stitt is fighting multiple legal battles on the sports betting/tribal compact questions as we head deeper into summer. Not only has the legislative body sued over the compacts with the Otoe-Missouria Tribe and Comanche Nations, but the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Chocktaw nations are in litigation presently, hoping their compacts will be extended, not renegotiated.

Gov. Stitt’s renegotiated compacts with the Kialegee Tribal Town and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians are also being challenged in court and will have to be cleared up before any sort of legal sports betting will even be a consideration in Oklahoma.

Sports Gambling Legality

Tribal Reaction

Obviously, the tribes that had negotiated for “event wagering” with the governor aren’t happy with the court stepping in and ruling on a deal they thought they had with the state. Otoe-Missouria chairman John Shotton said the Court “doesn’t have jurisdiction to invalidate our compact when state and federal law dictates that our compact is legal.” That said, he did mention that his tribe had no plans to offer sports betting “until they are authorized by state law”.

Comanche Nation chair William Nelson Sr. said his tribe’s compact is “legal under federal law” and the tribe was “prepared to legally invoke the compact’s severability clause if necessary.”

Bottom Line

Governor Stitt jumped the gun on legal sports betting in Oklahoma and exceeded his authority when it came to awarding two tribes a green light to go ahead with the platform. The bottom line is that legislators did not indeed sign off on any such plan and weren’t even consulted on the negotiations with the Otoe-Missouria Tribe and Comanche Nations.

Just when the idea of legal sports betting in Oklahoma seemed like an imminent reality, the legislature and the Courts have stepped in to pump the brakes on the idea. For now, wagering on your favorite team will have to take a back seat in Oklahoma, until lawsuits are settled and the legislature has their say.

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