EDITORIAL: Oklahoma could stand to solidify, capitalize on red-hot gaming market

EDITORIAL: Oklahoma could stand to solidify, capitalize on red-hot gaming market

Article brief provided by Tulsa World
  • Tulsa World
September 18, 2022 10:11 PM

Whatever economic headwinds might be battering the economy these days, they’re having little effect on Oklahomans’ appetite for gaming.

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As reported in The Oklahoman, the state received $17.9 million in exclusivity fees from tribal casinos in August, a monthly record. So far this year, the state has collected $193 million, an increase of 13% over the same time period in 2021.

The state is collecting an average of $16 million a month this year, up from a monthly average of $14.3 million in 2021 and $12.4 million a month three years ago, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gambling has been a controversial subject for some time, but it was the will of the voters in 2004 to legalize it, with Oklahoma tribes given exclusivity to offer electronic slot machines and table games and the state getting a cut of the proceeds.