OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — Sports betting is something the Oklahoma legislature has not been able to get across the finish line for the past couple of years.
However, one lawmaker is looking to keep the conversation going before next session.
State Sen. Bill Coleman (R-Ponca City) is a fan of sports betting and wants to see it become legal in the state of Oklahoma.
Attempts have been unsuccessful in making that happen so far. Several pieces of legislation saw movement early on this past legislative session but then stalled. Lawmakers said an agreement could not be met between the parties involved.
Governor Kevin Stitt was not on board with the proposed legislation and said he was left out of conversations.
“There’s no possible way that I’m gonna let one industry come into this building, give someone a sheet of paper and say run this bill,” Stitt said on March 26. “I think that’s the height of corruption. It’s unbelievable.”
Coleman wants to study the issue further before next session in an interim study he has filed titled, “Sports Betting, why the heck don’t we have it?”
“What I wanted to do with the interim study is get all the aspects, all the different plans that we have out there for sports betting in Oklahoma into a room at the same time so we can talk about each one of them. The pluses, the minuses and how we can move forward to become the 39th state in the United States of America to have sports betting,” Coleman said.
Coleman said he wants to bring in the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association.
“Because they have the keys to it,” he said. “There’s no doubt about that that, the tribes control gambling in the state of Oklahoma. We signed a compact that said that,” Coleman told FOX 25.
He also wants a representative from the Governor’s office at the study.
“His plan is probably the best plan out there with free enterprise in everything and it’s statewide open to anyone. However, I believe his plan is dead on arrival as soon as a court action is filed should that get passed,” Coleman said.
Coleman would also like the Oklahoma City Thunder to be at the study.
“They’ve been trying to get involved with this as sports betting has become very, very important in the world of professional sports,” he said.
Coleman says he hopes an agreement can be met.
“I mean we’re one of 11 states without sports betting right now and I think that the people of Oklahoma, I think they would love to do that,” Coleman said.
Coleman’s interim study on sports betting was approved by the Senate Pro Tem last week. Each study has to also be approved and scheduled by the chair of the committee the topic falls under.
