From left: Cherokee Nation Deputy Chief Joe Crittenden, Cherokee Nation Chief Bill John Baker and Gary Davis, president and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development at the RES Oklahoma summit in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on July 12, 2015. Photo from National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development / Facebook
Oklahoma tribes scored a major victory in 2004, when state voters approved State Question 712, the ballot initiative that authorized Class III gaming. The tribes have since shared $1.1 billion with the state and Oklahoma is home to more htan 100 gaming facilities, the most of any state. And with the first signed agreements due to expire on January 1, 2020, advocates say tribes need to stick together in order to get the best deal. “Or the state is going to divide and conquer, and we can’t allow that to happen,” Brian Foster, the chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, said at the Reservation Economic Summit on Thursday, The Tulsa World reported. In March, unity helped the tribes defeat a bill to legalize the fantasy sports industry in the state. They successfully argued that the measure would have violated the exclusivity provisions of the gaming compact. "We killed that bill in seven hours," said OIGA executive director Sheila Morago, The World reported. The Cherokee Nation hosted RES Oklahoma at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. Get the Story:
Indian gaming officials discuss daily fantasy sports at Reservation Economic Summit (The Tulsa World 7/15)
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