Oklahoma will remain one of the only states without legal sports betting after attempts in the Legislature didn’t clear the necessary hurdles to reach the governor’s desk.

Lawmakers couldn’t agree with the governor as to what role the state’s tribal nations should play in the market.

Two sports betting bills from Rep. Ken Luttrell, R-Ponca City, advanced the furthest in the Legislature, but failed to be heard on the Senate floor by the May 8 deadline.

From Luttrell, House Bill 1047 would have legalized sports betting and increased the amount of money that goes to the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to treat gambling addiction from $20,833 to $25,000 monthly. It would’ve given tribes the ability to exclusively offer sports betting with a 10% exclusivity payment to the state. 

The Ponca City representative’s other sports betting bill, HB 1101, proposed the same guidelines as HB 1047, but would’ve sent sports betting to a voter referendum. The bills passed the House in March with split Republican votes, but were never considered on the Senate floor.

ven if both bills had passed the Legislature, they would’ve likely faced another obstacle on the governor’s desk. In February, Gov. Kevin Stitt promised to veto any bill that is “exclusively giving a monopoly to the tribes.”

“We need more of a free market accountable system,” Stitt said on Feb. 26 during his weekly news conference. “(The tribes are) big businesses. They can sign up, and they can do the exact same thing that the Thunder or somebody else can, but I don’t want to give a monopoly exclusively to the tribes that are a very reduced number.”