Oneida Nation moves forward with sports betting partnership

Monday, June 3, 2019

Artist's rendering of a potential sports book at the Turning Stone Resort Casino, owned and operated by the Oneida Nation in Verona, New York. Image: Turning Stone

The Oneida Nation plans to offer sports betting at its gaming facilities in New York under a partnership with Scientific Games Corporation.

The tribe and Scientific Games submitted an agreement to the National Indian Gaming Commission, an independent federal agency, for review. According to the partners, the NIGC determined that they can move forward with sports betting using a platform known as OpenSports.

“We are proud that we will be among the first Indian nations nationally to offer sports betting, and we appreciate NIGC’s review and approval of our partnership with Scientific Games," Ray Halbritter, Oneida Nation Representative and Oneida Nation Enterprises CEO, said in a press release. "Our partnership with Scientific Games and SG Digital will give our guests an incredible sports betting experience while providing our properties a strong foundation to grow this market in New York.”

The tribe was one of the first to announce plans to join the sports betting industry following a landmark decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. The May 2018 ruling opened the door for tribes and states to legalize sports books.

The tribe, though, plans to wait until the state of New York finalizes its sports betting regulations, according to the release. That's expected before the end of the year.

The regulations, however, do not authorize betting on cell phones and other mobile devices, Casino.org reported. Legislation is moving forward to do just that, according to the site, which would allow tribes to offer online wagers.

The Oneida Nation operates three gaming facilities: Turning Stone Resort Casino, Yellow Brick Road Casino and Point Place Casino.

The exact nature of the agreement was not described by the tribe or Scientific Games. The NIGC website does not currently list any documents regarding the partnership on its management contracts, gaming ordinances, game classification or Indian lands opinion pages.

Earlier this year, the tribe said it had entered into a partnership with Caesars Entertainment to open the “The Lounge with Caesars Sports” at its properties. The agreement was also being submitted to the NIGC for review, according to a release from the time.

Read More on the Story

NIGC Backs Sports Wagering at Oneida Venues in New York Even Though State Regulations Not in Place (Casino.Org June 1, 2019)
NIGC supports sports gambling at New York’s tribal casinos (CalvinAyre.Com June 3, 2019) $P

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