The reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder are joining the push to create a legal sports betting market in Oklahoma, according to The Oklahoman.
Key Takeaways
- All of Oklahoma’s neighbors except for Texas legalized sports betting.
- The Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association leader said they would work with the Thunder.
- One lawmaker said legalizing online sports betting could allow the lottery to sell tickets online.
Oklahoma is only one of 11 states that have not legalized sports betting.
Nearby Missouri legalized sports betting at the ballot last November, though it took years of debate to get to that point. Officials and representatives of the state’s professional sports betting teams were central figures in lobbyist efforts to create the legal market.
Drawing on that, the Thunder are ready to throw their weight around in discussions regarding local sports betting.
Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt already pledged to veto any bill that grants gaming exclusivity to local tribes. Matthew Morgan, chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, responded by saying that a failure to include the tribes in a sports betting agreement would violate existing tribal-state compacts.
As a result, a Thunder representative suggested the state could allow the team and a tribal group to obtain retail and mobile sports betting licenses that would be used to contract approved commercial operators.
“In other markets, teams are getting direct licenses," said Will Syring, vice president of corporate sponsorships for the Thunder. “If they're getting licenses, they are getting paid off of those bets. The league also only allows you to take a percentage off the top.”
Syring said awarding the team with 0.25% of the Oklahoma sports betting handle would be a fair way to balance the gaming market.
Tribes willing to work with Thunder
Morgan said he and the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association would be willing to collaborate with the NBA franchise.
"If we can find a way forward and work with the Oklahoma City Thunder, that's what we want to keep in mind as we move forward," Morgan said. "They're a big part of the discussion and someone we want to ensure that we listen to their voice and their thoughts.”
The Thunder’s pitch would allow the team to host an online sportsbook limited to non-tribal territory in Oklahoma. Each tribal territory would be operated by individual tribes, which would have the right to create or partner with sportsbook companies.
Exclusivity fees would be paid to the state based on an existing compact, which awards the state a portion of revenue generated by certain forms of tribal gaming.
Not all of Oklahoma’s land would be eligible for sports betting under the Indiana Gaming Regulation Act, since some tribes do not hold reservation statuses.
Weighing risks, rewards
Oklahoma lawmakers met to discuss the future of Oklahoma sports betting last Thursday, the same day that the NBA’s Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups were arrested as a result of an illegal gambling investigation.
Jay Finks, executive director of the Oklahoma Lottery Commission, said during the meeting that legalizing online sports betting didn’t fit the commission’s model regarding risk-minimization and generating revenue. However, he noted it could allow the lottery to sell tickets online.
