The Cherokee Nation owns and operates Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Photo from Anadisgoi / Cherokee Nation
Oklahoma lawmakers are being asked to legalize fantasy sports but experts warn that tribes won't have to share gaming revenues with the state if the legislation goes through. The state's gaming industry exploded after voters approved the Class III gaming compact through State Question 712 in 2004. The agreement requires tribes to share revenues in exchange for exclusivity on certain games. Legalizing fantasy sports would break the exclusivity pledge, experts told OU Daily. That threatens more than $100 million that the state receives every year from the tribes. “It’s definitely something Oklahoma should avoid, especially when we’re in the middle of a giant budget hole,” Gene Perry, a policy director with the Oklahoma Policy Institute, told the paper. According to the Oklahoma Gaming Compliance Unit's 2015 report, tribes have shared $1.1 billion with the state since 2004. The fantasy sports bills are HB 2278 and SB 1396. Get the Story:
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