OKLAHOMA CITY – More than $202 million in tribal gaming exclusivity fees were collected by the State of Oklahoma in Fiscal Year 2023, according to the Oklahoma Gaming Compliance Unit Annual Report.
The report is published by the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services and is available online at oklahoma.gov.
Revenues collected are governed by the state-tribal gaming compacts and the 2023 amount collected is based on over $3.34 billion in monies generated from Class III electronic games and nonhouse-banked card games. Class III electronic games permitted under the state-tribal gaming compact include bonanza-style bingo, instant bingo and amusement games.
The 2023 exclusivity fees are a 5.6% increase over Fiscal Year 2022. According to OMES, payments have grown year-over-year with only two exceptions since 2005, which includes FY 2014 and FY 2020. Tribes pay Class III electronic game revenues based on a sliding scale. For the first $10 million in revenue, tribes pay 4% to the state; for the next $10 million, the payment is 5%; and for revenues more than $20 million, the payment is 6%.Tribes pay 10% of the monthly net win from table games.
Benefitting from the fees include the Education Reform Revolving Fund (1017 Fund), the General Revenue Fund and the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. According to the report, in FY 2023, the 1017 Fund received $177.8 million and the GRF received $24 million. ODMHSAS statutorily receives a set $250,000 annually from the exclusivity fees.
A table in the report shows that the Chickasaw Nation paid the most in exclusivity fees at $74,909,690. Rounding out the rest of the top five on the list, the Choctaw Nation paid $45,140,683; Cherokee Nation, $18,565,057; Muscogee (Creek) Nation, $13,628,451; and the Osage Nation, $8,303,408. The Comanche Nation paid $3658,783 in exclusivity fees in 2023.
Also noteworthy in the report, 33 tribes were operating 136 facilities offering Class III gaming related to the state-tribal gaming compacts at the end of Fiscal Year 2023. The Cherokee Nation tops the list with 23 casinos; Choctaw Nation, 22; Cherokee Nation, 12; Muscogee (Creek) Nation nine; and the Osage Nation seven. The Comanche Nation also operates seven casinos.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, enacted by Congress in 1988, established the Federal standards for gaming activity on Indian lands. Also established the same year was the National Indian Gaming Commission that operates within the Department of the Interior and requires at least two members to be enrolled members of any Native tribe.
State tribal compacts and agreements are executed through the governor’s office and are filed in the Office of the Secretary of State. The compacts allow the tribes the exclusive right to operate gaming in Oklahoma. Existing compacts were renewed in October 2022 for a 15-year term.