Sports Gambling Bill Clears the Oklahoma House

It's starting to look like 2023 is going to be another big year for sports bettors across the U.S. That's a fair statement based on the fact that a half dozen states or so are seriously considering sports betting legislation. Here's a look at what's going on in Oklahoma.

Sports Gambling Bill Clears the Oklahoma House

By a final vote of 66-26, HB 1027 passed Oklahoma's House and will now move onto the Senate. The final version of the bill was presented in January of 2023 by GOP Representative Ken Luttrell.

The Bill would effectively do two things. First, it would give the state's Indian Tribes the ability to offer both retail and online sports betting. Before such a bill could be signed into law, all Tribes wanting to participate would need to renegotiate their current compacts, something that could cause delays. Note: There are currently more than 30 Tribes offering some form of gambling within the state's boundaries.

Second, it set forth a tax structure by which the state would be able to collect taxes from operators. Here is a look at the proposed tax structure:

• 4% would be collected on the net revenue of the first $5 million earned
  
• 5% would be collected on gross revenue over the next $5 earned
  
• 6% would be collected on all gross revenue earned on an annual basis
  

As a final note, HB 1027 calls for the state's tax revenue from sports betting to be allocated as follows: 12% going to the state's General Fund and the remaining 88% going to public schools and other education initiatives.