IGA show review: Unpacking recent regulatory updates in Oklahoma
Could you share the latest tribal gaming updates to be seen in Oklahoma?
We continue to be, in my opinion, a leader in electronic gaming, especially Class II electronic gaming. We have 38 tribes, 33 are operating gaming facilities and we have around 134 gaming-specific properties in Oklahoma currently. But we’re also one of the jurisdictions that have yet to take on sports betting, so that has taken a lot of our time in the last couple of years trying to come to an agreement with the state on what sports betting may look like in Oklahoma.
While we’ve seen a lot of our regional competitors be able to offer that to their players, in terms of what we’re looking at, we’re still digesting sports betting and these other forms of gaming as well that are proliferating across the country.
Have you had any interesting recent conversations with Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt perhaps…?
Not with the Governor, but we’ve had some really great conversations with members of the legislature, Senator Coleman, Representative Luttrell and Senator Rader, who also drafted a sports betting bill this year. We’ve also had some conversations with additional stakeholders in the state of Oklahoma, both professional sports and collegiate sports in universities.
What they would like to see, in terms of what sports betting may look like, are the stakeholders that need to be able to participate, while at the same time trying to talk with our law enforcement and tribal regulatory communities on making sure we’re doing the best job we can of keeping illegal activity out of the state.
We’re at IGA 2025, but later in the year we have the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association (OIGA) tradeshow. What can you tell us about this year’s show and what we might be able to expect?
“Every year in Oklahoma we really look forward to this show”
It’s where we get a lot of people that are in the gaming industry to come to Oklahoma and enjoy our hospitality. We’ll be in Oklahoma City again this year, 14-16 July at the Oklahoma City Convention Centre. It’s led by Mayor David Holt, who actually is an Osage tribal citizen, so he has a really good grasp on what we do and the benefits of the community.
We’ll have a strong educational session programme where we will look at not only what is affecting our tribal members in terms of the new federal administration, but also at the state level. Sports betting is going to take up a lot of our conversation space while also just looking at new innovations in our industry in general. There are new things out there we’re seeing through social media with the push for influences and marketing, and how are you distinguishing your property from your neighbour.
There have been a few topics discussed quite heavily this week in terms of the threats posed to native gaming and commercial operators, DFS 2.0, predictions markets and sweepstakes casinos, I imagine that’s something that takes up at least some of your time…
It has. I think for a long time some of this activity has run underground in a way that a lot of folks in our industry weren’t taking notice. Over the last six-to-nine months, that’s really changed, especially in our tribal industry where we’ve worked really hard through the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and negotiating with state governments to really set forth a legal gaming framework in a way that makes sense for everybody. Now, we have these new technologies that are trying to come in and up-end some of that and a lot of them, in our opinion, are just illegal ways to get around these agreements that have been very productive not only for our tribal communities, but for our state governments as well.
It’s perhaps the million-dollar question – not easy to answer – but how can tribal gaming effectively combat these new threats?
That’s a great question. Something we already do in many different areas is work with our partners and really call upon those folks that we have relationships with to make sure everybody’s playing their role.
“They’re offering these illegal activities in Oklahoma. They’re not only violating our tribal state gaming compact, but they’re also violating state gambling laws”
Until we stand up and say ‘that’s enough of that, there’s going to be some consequences,’ we’re going to continue to see a proliferation of these types of technologies that are always trying to look at new and innovative ways to approach the subject.
I don’t hold any grudge against folks that are trying to be innovative, we’re in that market also; but you have to do it in a way that is based on the laws and the regulatory frameworks that have been put forth.
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