The state senator who’s boosting sports betting says he still believes legal gambling on professional games is a good idea for Oklahoma.
Sen. Bill Coleman (R-Ponca City) said he is not receiving any financial incentives to advocate for sports betting. Instead, he got interested in the growing industry after he placed a $10 wager in Kansas.
“It made me watch a game with much more interest than if I hadn’t made that $10 bet.”
Coleman said he thinks the revenue from sports betting will be good for the state and speculated it would boost education, though a plan is not in place. The lawmaker recently hosted an interim study on sports betting including the Oklahoma City Thunder that is seeking a gambling license.
Efforts to legalize continue to stall as the governor and tribes spar over who will benefit.
Last week’s opening of the NBA season was marred by double scandals involving illegal sports wagering and rigged mafia-sponsored poker games that lured marks through opportunities to play with pro athletes.
The wagering scandal is seeing a Miami Heat player, Terry Rozier, accused of faking an injury to rig “prop bets,” gambles that aim to predict things like how many assists a player will perform in a game. Rozier’s associates allegedly raked in thousands after the point guard was benched due to an apparent foot complaint.
Rozier was collared because he allegedly communicated to people close to him that he planned to leave the game early. That information was sold, which led to a significant number of unusual bets reported by sportsbooks.
Coleman, who said he is a sports lover, doesn’t think state-sanctioned gambling will hurt the integrity of contests.
“I believe the fact that some bets were made through legalized sports betting is one reason why this investigation is going on. I think had those bets been made illegally, we wouldn’t have heard a thing about it. I think the data that the legalized sports betting companies can obtain can red flag things like that.”
Seven different games are part of the current investigation.
Spokesman for the Thunder Dan Mahoney said the team can't comment on the national investigation, but wrote that "the Thunder has always fully supported safe and legal statewide mobile sports betting" and will continue discussions with state and tribal leaders.
Coleman said his proposed regulations don’t include provisions to stop cheating because other laws address such activity, though he could not name those laws “off the top of [his] head.”
The rate of gambling problems among sports bettors is twice as high as traditional gambling. Coleman’s proposed law would include addiction support funding.
Legislation co-sponsor state Rep. Ken Luttrell (R-Ponca City) did not respond to a request for comment.
