TULSA, Okla. — The Oklahoma Senate voted down a bill to legalize sports betting in the state. Senators rejected HB1047 by a vote of 27-21 following debate from both sides of the issue.
The legislation would have allowed tribes to offer in-person betting at their facilities and opened the door to legalized mobile betting.
The vote marks the latest in a number of failed attempts to legalize sports gambling in Oklahoma. Currently, 39 other states allow some form of sports betting, including Kansas.
During the debate, Republican state senators Brian Guthrie and Dusty Deevers voiced opposition to the bill, while Republican Sen. Bill Coleman spoke in favor of it.
"Gambling addiction is increasing across the United States, and the last thing I want to do is support that." Guthrie said.
"This bill doesn't simply legalize a harmless activity. It institutionalizes a vice and then asks the state to profit from it." Deevers said.
"This is not increasing gambling alternatives in Oklahoma. It is providing a regulated, a regulated industry to operate sports betting with our tribes." Coleman said.
Sports gambling is a multi-billion-dollar industry nationwide. Jameson Hocter, a Jenks resident who previously lived in Kansas, which legalized it recently, wants sports betting legalized in Oklahoma.
"The doors are endless with how much fun you can have with doing it. So I'm personally for it." Hocter said.
"Honestly I just think it's a better way to watch sports. Makes it more fun." Hocter said.
"It creates a much different atmosphere for it. You go to your local bar and watch a Chiefs game, or a Thunder game, and it's there and they have it all at the bottom of the screen. It's a ticker, it tells you what's going on." Hocter said.
Ultimately, those against the bill outnumbered those for it, putting legal sports betting in the state on hold. Hocter still hopes to see it passed in the future.
"It's just fun. It's something to talk about with your buddies. You can say like, do you think this guy is gonna score a touchdown, and if so, at what point of the game? It's just, it's a conversation." Hocter said.
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