Federal Government Approves Oklahoma’s New Gambling Compacts with Otoe-Missouria Tribe and Comanche Nation

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has announced that the federal government has approved the new gambling compacts between Oklahoma and two tribal nations – the Otoe-Missouria Tribe and the Comanche Nation.

In a statement, Stitt praised the leaders of the two tribes “who worked hard to secure fair terms for their citizens, and whose contributions throughout the negotiations ensured a more level playing field and modernized gaming market in Oklahoma.”

The new compacts authorize the tribes to offer additional forms of gambling, including sports betting, and to build new casinos closer to metropolitan areas that would give the state a larger cut of revenue, although it is not clear when either of those might occur.

The state’s Republican Attorney General Mike Hunter has said sports gambling remains illegal under state law, and any attempt by the two tribes to build new casinos would likely face opposition from other tribes already operating casinos in those areas.

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Stephen Greetham, senior counsel for the Chickasaw Nation, has sued the governor over the existing gambling compacts. He said the new agreements are only authorized to the extent that they do not violate federal law.

“The risk of the agreements’ illegality remains with Governor Stitt and the two signing Tribes, and since several federal law defects have already been publicly documented, more litigation is likely,” Greetham said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the state’s Republican legislative leaders last week asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to settle whether the governor overstepped his authority when he reached the new deals.