Expert Makes Bold Prediction for Oklahoma Sports Betting

The future of Oklahoma sports betting continues to hand in the balance after the latest attempt failed to gain the necessary support in the Senate. However, recent comments from an industry expert suggest this won’t continue for much longer.

Pat Evans of Legal Sports Report made an appearance on SportsGrid. During the conversation, he touched upon the future of sports betting in the United States across a bunch of different markets. The Sooner State was naturally one of the markets that came up. And woo buddy, are there some pertinent tidbits to discuss.

We sifted through and transcribed the entire segment on sports betting in Oklahoma and will go through the most important points below. But rather than bury the lede, here’s the bold prediction you came for: Evans believes that Oklahoma sports betting is going to get legalized very quickly…but not until Stitt is out of office.

A recurring theme in the Oklahoma sports betting discussion has been the tribes’ stance on gaming. They want exclusivity, which Governor Kevin Stitt does not support. He wants the market to open to commercial operators. Except, even Stitt’s own Republican party has his back on that subject.

Governor Stitt’s Successor will Likely Support Tribes’ Stance on Oklahoma Sports Betting

As Evans notes, Governor Stitt's eventual replacement is expected to take a different approach—perhaps even legalizing sports betting right away:

“There have been big discussions. They’re kind of putting the target to 2026 or 2027, when Stitt is voted out. There was a recent local article that had comments from two different gubernatorial candidates for 2026, saying ‘This is important. We need to give our tribes more leverage. We need to give them more assets to thrive.’ And [they were] kind of looking towards, you know, who’s ever governor next understands the tribes want this, understands that how it’s going to get done, understands Oklahomans probably want sports betting, because most of the rest of the country has it.

"So, we are in a spot where pretty much everybody except for Kevin Stitt [wants Oklahoma sports betting]. And even Kevin Stitt, the governor, has said ‘I want it. I just want commercial entities involved. So, again, push-pull. But I think with him in office, it’s not going to get done. We’re going to have to wait until whoever is the new governor in Oklahoma comes in, and then, you’ll very likely, very quickly see sports betting in Oklahoma.”

This prediction will come as a double-edged sword to Oklahoma sports betting supporters. On the one hand, it seems like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. That’s a good thing.

On the other hand, though, this light is still a ways off. If Oklahoma doesn’t get sports betting on the 2026 ballot, it will not have a chance to get voted on again until 2028. By that point, you’re not looking at an Oklahoma sports betting launch until 2029—or perhaps later.

Here is How Governor Stitt Lost the Support of His Own Party

Tensions between Governor Stitt and the state’s tribes are the only ones boiling over. The former is facing grief from his own party. It all started back in 2020, when he first assumed office. It has snowballed ever since, creating the Oklahoma sports betting gridlock we see now.

Here is Evans says on how everything ended up in this awkward spot:

“Back in 2020, right after he first took office, said ‘You know what? I want to legalize sports betting. I’m going to do it through two compacts, and then we’re going to see if we can open up the commercial market.’ Those amended compacts were later deemed illegal. And we’ve now been in kind of a stagnated stalemate between the tribes and Stitt—so much so that Stitt’s own Republican party has long gone kind of against him. At one point [they even said], you know, we’ll kind of take over the negotiations and kick him completely out of the tribal relations situation. It doesn’t matter.

“This year, we got a couple of bills that were introduced, largely supported by the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association. Those got as far as they’ve ever gotten, just getting shy of a Senate vote, [making it] out of the House. It was probably 75 percent of the way there. Even so, Stitt said, ‘You know what? If any of these bills get through, I’m going to veto them.’ Well, they didn’t end up getting through, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. One of them even would have circumvented him and gone to the [2026] ballot instead.”

From threatening to block bills that have bi-partisan support, to brokering illegal gaming compacts a half-decade ago, Governor Stitt has not made himself many friends.

The Cold, Hard Truth About Sports Betting in Oklahoma

Try as Stitt might to push for commercial sportsbooks in Oklahoma, he has failed. He will continue to fail, if he’s even still part of the process. What’s more, Governor Stitt knows he’s the primary roadblock to sports betting. And yet, he has refused to shift his stance. That is not going to fly.

Oklahoma tribes have so much leverage. Only tribal nations in California hold more stay. If and when Oklahoma sports betting is legalized, it will be largely on their terms.

Sure, they might open up the market to top online sportsbooks in the United States at some point. That isn’t going to happen at first. And that’s not a novel concept. Nebraska sports betting still hasn’t branched out to online wagering. The same goes for Wisconsin sports betting. Meanwhile, the Seminole Tribe has a monopoly on Florida sports betting.

Really, this entire saga feels as if it could be avoided if Governor Stitt wasn’t so stubborn. Maybe that oversimplifies the dynamic at play. We can’t know for sure right now. But it seems like we will once Stitt’s successor takes office.

If Oklahoma sports betting gets fast-tracked then, we’ll know this is all on the present-day governor. If it stalls out again, well, we will have to start asking some tough, awkward questions.

Take a look at this list of the top online sportsbooks so you can find one that works for all of your sports betting needs: