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Oklahoma Tribal Casinos at Odds with Governor Stitt

In an interesting turn of events, the Oklahoma Native American tribes are in a tug-of-war with the state over the gambling compact that essentially expired end of 2019. The three tribal casino operators insist that these compacts automatically roll over and renew for another 15 years. However, the governor Kevin Stitt once a formal signing to renew these extensions. The three Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes in Oklahoma are at a standoff and are not willing to come to the table to sign what they say is a compact that is still legal in fully functional. If so, why is the governor insist on a formal sit-down signing and why are the tribes so resistant to it?

Well, it seems there is more to this case, and it involves money. The governor seems to want more in their revenue-sharing agreement, and the tribes, although willing to renegotiate revenue sharing contracts, are fighting the claim that they need to sign an extension to renew their contracts. So now they have taken it to the federal courts for the judges to decide. What will the outcome be? We are all waiting with bated breath to see how this plays out period let us know for the meantime break down what the story is between Oklahoma governor and the three federally recognized tribes operating casinos in that area.

Oklahoma Tribal Casinos vs Governor Stitt

In the last year alone, the three federally recognized tribes which operate casinos in Oklahoma paid over US$ 136 million to the state. It sounds like an awful lot of money; however, governor Stitt would like to have, or it seems. Fair enough considering that the tribal casinos in that state made over US$ 2.3 billion. The tribal casino operators are not against renegotiating how much revenue they paid back to the States. What they are in effect trying to avoid is opening themselves up to many legal battles that might threaten their hold or stake in the gambling market in Oklahoma. Allegedly Governor Stitt is intending to make sweeping changes under the guise of signing an extension of the gambling compact that the state has with the three tribes. This new ‘extension’ vulnerable their exclusive rights to gambling operations in the state. It reminds us of the case of tribal casinos in Florida who eventually had to resort to withholding revenue from the state after a change in laws that affected the estate in the gambling market in Florida. It seems both sides in Oklahoma are not willing to back down, and the gambling industry in that state will be ablaze with likely the biggest court battle involving gambling in that state. We will keep you updated with the story keep an eye on our blogs.

For more related US gambling news see more blogs below.

 

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