Senator Dave Rader champions sports betting bill, seeks tribal partnerships

OKLAHOMA CITY- (KOKH) — As the new year begins, so does another push to legalize sports betting in Oklahoma.

“I think it gives us a chance to strengthen our communication and our partnership with the tribes. I think it’s a win win win. I think it’s a win for the tribes, I think it’s a win for the state, think it’s a win for our taxpayers,” said Senator Dave Rader.

Former coach and now State Senator Dave Rader is a big fan of bringing sports betting to Oklahoma and recently submitted a bill to do just that ahead of the legislative session.

Rader believes bringing sports betting to Oklahoma will help bring in revenue for the state.

“We’ve had almost a billion dollars in tax decreases in the last few years, you know, somewhere along the line, we need something to come back, because our state is continuing to grow. And this has a way to offer a little bit of tax revenue to come back to the state,” he said.

This is just the latest effort following several failed attempts to legalize the growing industry in the sooner state. Rader said efforts to pass sports betting so far have stalled because the executive branch hasn’t been able to come to any agreements with the tribes on compacts.

“Maybe this bill can be a bit of a push to say ‘Hey, you guys need to get this done.’ But it’s mainly there that if a compact can be agreed upon, then we have a law that we can turn to,” he said.

Rader added it’s also important that sports betting is legalized in Oklahoma so that the state can stay ahead of the curve compared to other states.

“We need to do it before Texas does. We have many many vehicles driving from Texas to Oklahoma to gamble at the tribal casinos, and we sure would like for those cars to continually be pointed at Oklahoma,” he said.

FOX 25 reached out to several of the tribes to see what terms would be acceptable in order for them to agree to any compacts to bring sports betting to Oklahoma but have not yet heard back.