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Sports-Betting Boost Expected With Texas, Oklahoma In SEC

Published

2 years ago

July 12, 2024

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With the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners now in the Southeastern Conference, legal sports betting soon could jump by double digits in the region, says one bookmaker.

Starting this season, Texas and Oklahoma are in position to challenge for the SEC football championship — and championships across all SEC sports — in a collegiate conference loaded with rich traditions and annual national title contenders.

The Longhorns and Sooners joined the SEC in July. Both moved over from the Big 12.

“This new conference (alignment) leads to better games for the book and better opportunities for the player,” Casey Lewless, manager of two Louisiana sportsbooks, told Gambling.com.

Legal sportsbooks in Louisiana are popular with bettors from neighboring Texas and nearby Oklahoma. Sports wagering is illegal in Texas and Oklahoma.

Because of this, the Margaritaville Resort Casino in Bossier City, Louisiana, expects to see a bump of about 30% in college wagering, Lewless said. That sportsbook already was anticipating more action because of its recent expansion.

The Margaritaville sportsbook is one of two in Northwest Louisiana that Lewless manages for Penn Entertainment. The other is at the nearby Boomtown Casino Hotel.

Lewless pointed to Texas’ rivalry years ago with the Arkansas Razorbacks in the former Southwest Conference as a matchup that will stir interest now that both are in the SEC. Sports betting is legal in Arkansas.

Also, every clash between the two Texas SEC schools — the Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies — will stir emotions and boost sports betting in close-by states like Louisiana where wagering is legal, Lewless said.

Sports Betting Illegal In Half Of SEC States

The addition of Oklahoma into the SEC means six of the 12 states with schools in the conference do not have legal sports betting. Texas already had a school in the SEC — Texas A&M.

Those six SEC states make up the largest geographic region in the U.S. without legal sports betting. Combined, the six states have a population of more than 62 million, representing about 19% of the U.S. population.

Nationwide, sports betting is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C.

The SEC states without legal sports betting are:

Texas (Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M Aggies)
Oklahoma (Oklahoma Sooners)
Missouri (Missouri Tigers)
Alabama (Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers)
Georgia (Georgia Bulldogs)
South Carolina (South Carolina Gamecocks)
The other six SEC states have either in-person or mobile sports betting — or both. Tennessee is a mobile-only state, while Mississippi has in-person sports betting at casinos but not off-site mobile wagering.

The SEC states with legal sports betting are:

Arkansas (Arkansas Razorbacks)
Louisiana (LSU Tigers)
Kentucky (Kentucky Wildcats)
Tennessee (Tennessee Volunteers, Vanderbilt Commodores)
Mississippi (Ole Miss Rebels, Mississippi State Bulldogs)
Florida (Florida Gators)

College Football Kicks Off In August

The overall college football schedule kicks off Aug. 24, including a matchup overseas between Florida State and Georgia Tech in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland.

In the SEC, the Oklahoma Sooners, led by head coach Brent Venables, begin their season on Aug. 30 against Temple at OU’s Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium.

The SEC schedule gets fully underway over the Labor Day weekend, highlighted by an Aug. 31 contest between Clemson and Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

On that same day, the Steve Sarkisian-coached Texas Longhorns host Colorado State in Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.

The next day’s schedule, on Sept. 1, features another SEC school, LSU, in a matchup against Southern California in the Vegas Kickoff Classic at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

SEC Divisions Abandoned

The addition of Texas and Oklahoma brings the number of teams in the SEC to 16. This season, the conference football championship will be decided between the top two teams. The 2024 SEC title game is set for Dec. 7 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

In previous years, the conference was split into two divisions, with the East and West winners battling it out for for the SEC title.

The 2024 arrangement with no divisions is a departure in the conference structure dating back more than three decades.

Source

Related Topics:latest-news norss Oklahoma SEC sports betting Texas

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Latest News

Bettormetrics publishes World Cup trading benchmark; Tipico leads uptime ranking

Published

57 minutes ago

June 4, 2026

Wladimir P.

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Study of 1,752 Big 5 league matches finds a 12-point uptime gap; live World Cup leaderboard to run during the tournament.

Bettormetrics has launched what it calls the first World Cup Trading Performance Benchmark, ranking sportsbooks on in-play market uptime ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The sports odds intelligence firm said it will publish a live World Cup leaderboard on its website during the tournament to track trading performance.

The benchmark measures operator uptime on the Total Goals market across 1,752 fixtures in the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1. Bettormetrics analysed 22 operators and published a Top 10, reporting a gap of more than 12 percentage points between the highest and lowest performers.

Tipico ranked first overall with 95.9% uptime, followed by Fanatics (95.3%) and Betsson (94.9%). Superbet (94.8%) and Betano (94.7%) rounded out the top five. Bettormetrics said Premier League fixtures generally delivered the highest availability across operators, while La Liga was “the key differentiator” and “consistently produced the lowest availability figures across the field.”

The results also highlighted regional shifts. Bettormetrics noted that none of bet365, William Hill, Ladbrokes or Paddy Power made the Top 10, while Fanatics placed second overall as the highest-ranked US operator. It also flagged Pinnacle and SBOBET as ranking poorly on in-play availability in this analysis despite “strong reputations for pregame pricing and market depth.”

Sabin Brooks, CEO of Bettormetrics, said: “The World Cup represents one of the highest-risk and highest-opportunity periods in the sportsbook calendar. Small differences in uptime, trading performance and market availability can have a material impact on turnover, profitability and even reputation.

“The World Cup leaderboard will answer one simple question: which sportsbook performed best when it matters most?”

The post Bettormetrics publishes World Cup trading benchmark; Tipico leads uptime ranking appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

GoldenRace

GoldenRace to showcase V5 mobile betting solution at Peru Gaming Show 2026

Published

3 hours ago

June 4, 2026

Wladimir P.

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GoldenRace will exhibit at Peru Gaming Show 2026 at the Centro de Exposiciones Jockey in Lima on 17-18 June, where it plans to showcase its new V5 mobile solution, according to the supplier.

The company said the V5 delivery focuses on performance and operator control, with a unified UI/UX built around “ultra-fast performance”, “total brand authority” through customisation, and “intuitive navigation”, including a “one-click hybrid toggle” to access markets.

GoldenRace also plans to highlight its Hit&Win games, including Arcade Heist—“recently crowned with the Game Innovation Award at the SiGMA Africa Awards 2026”—and Fortune Fighters, which the company said is built to run on the V5 infrastructure.

Other products listed for the stand include In-shop Mobile, a retail feature that enables customers to bet on their own devices while in-store, plus virtual Greyhound and Horse Racing content.

The supplier said it will also feature products from other group brands at the show: Spinmatic, Novusbet and Xpress Tech. GoldenRace said attendees can meet the team at stands 11-14.

The post GoldenRace to showcase V5 mobile betting solution at Peru Gaming Show 2026 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

betcore

BetOnGames launches Cricket Strike Crash for its crash games portfolio

Published

4 hours ago

June 4, 2026

Wladimir P.

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BetOnGames, the instant games vertical of the BETCORE ecosystem, has launched Cricket Strike Crash, a sports-themed crash game, the company said on June 4, 2026.

Cricket Strike Crash uses a real-time multiplier that increases while the round continues, with players choosing when to cash out before the crash. BetOnGames positions the title for fast-cycle play and mobile-first sessions.

The game ships with a stated RTP of 97.5% and medium volatility. BetOnGames also says Cricket Strike Crash uses a “provably fair system” designed to provide transparency on outcomes.

Cricket Strike Crash joins BetOnGames’ wider instant games catalogue within BETCORE, alongside TVBET and ElCasino. The group offers operators access to crash games, instant win games and slots via a single B2B integration, according to the company.

A product video is available here.

The post BetOnGames launches Cricket Strike Crash for its crash games portfolio appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.