Oklahoma tribal leaders are urging Congress to address online prediction markets, which they argue operate outside the regulations governing tribal gaming and resemble sports betting.

Concerns Over Lack of Oversight

The Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes has raised concerns about these platforms, emphasizing the importance of tribal sovereignty, consumer protection, and maintaining the regulatory framework that has governed tribal gaming for decades.

Matthew Morgan, chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, expressed concerns that these companies are operating outside the regulatory systems that tribal casinos follow. “Going around the state and the tribes and going to offer these activities to citizens in the state of Oklahoma circumvents all these governmental infrastructures that have been set up to legally regulate these activities,” Morgan said.

The debate comes months after Oklahoma’s latest attempt to legalize sports betting failed at the state Capitol. House Bill 1047, which had the support of the tribes, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the state’s major public universities, would have allowed sports betting through existing tribal gaming compacts.

Morgan noted that while sports betting remains illegal in Oklahoma, residents are still spending money through prediction markets, resulting in lost revenue for the state and tribes. “One of the things that both the state and tribal governments are looking at is they look at this activity to provide, whether it’s the state side of the equation, looking at tax revenue or, you know, exclusivity payments from the tribes offering this activity, should it become legalized, sports betting in the state. That’s a lot of economic activity that’s going outside of the state. A lot of it’s going outside of the country right now to operators that are operating outside of the United States,” Morgan said.

Original reporting: Oklahoma City News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.