foreign America speaking with Matthew Morgan the chairman of the Oklahoma Indian gaming Association thank you for speaking with us today Matthew of course thanks for having me that's all right our pleasure uh starters I was hoping if you could uh just give a sort of summary of the state of gaming in Oklahoma today sure I think the state of gaming in Oklahoma is very strong uh if you looked at the national gaming commission's recent uh gross Gaming revenue report while Oklahoma split between the Oklahoma City and Tulsa regions we continue to show a very strong showing in terms of Revenue we continue to see growth in Oklahoma in terms of both facilities entertainment options and so you know overall I think we're doing really well and uh what an event like g2e uh what is Oklahoma what do Oklahoma gaming operators hope to uh achieve or what do the people here hope to achieve from the Oklahoma gaming operators might be the better question well you know I think Oklahoma uh holds a position very well as a very uh Cutting Edge leading uh regional market so you know you'll see a lot of the new technologies in Oklahoma before maybe you see them in other jurisdictions so the chance to come to g2e see everybody's newest latest and greatest product uh you know for the first time see if that's something maybe that that you think will help your floor or you know if you're in the regulatory Community coming out here and hearing about you know what are the latest regulatory Challengers or regulatory products that you may see that could help you do your job more efficient you know and I think all that is here uh you know on the technology side and then you know just added in the networking opportunities you get to see folks here at g2e that you don't see at any other show here in North America so it's able to go in there and see products see people you know and really really get back to what we did pre-pandemic you know in a lot of ways so it's been great yeah it's interesting what you say about Oklahoma being something of an incubator for trends that may get adopted nationally I was wondering if you could speak a bit more about that why why why Oklahoma sure I mean I know at the top of your head you wouldn't think Oklahoma you know landlocked small population state but but one we have uh you know over 130 gaming operations within our borders uh we have a a large mix floor both class two and class three That You Don't See across the country as well you know we have a a up-and-coming uh table games section where we're seeing that both in terms of traditional but also in terms of electronic and in the variety over those 130 plus Gaming facilities between you know small local markets to the largest casino in the world allows operators to come in and prove products in a way that maybe you can in other jurisdictions sure sure and I remember last time we spoke was about six months ago there was something of an impasse between the tribal operators and the state government I was wondering if you could give me an update on that sure you know uh uh the uh conflict that we had that we currently still have I guess I could say with governorship the the first uh the first part of it was whether our compacts renewed uh a federal court has come in and said of course they did uh plain language and so we continue to operate we continue to move down the road uh but the disagreement with with the governor between the governor and the tribal governments in Oklahoma continues to be there and you know it continues to affect new gaming in Oklahoma you know we're very gain specific uh jurisdiction so if it's not class two and you requires a compact and being a class three we need to have an agreement with both the legislature and the governor before any offerings happening so not having the uh a relationship there with the executive branch of the state government really has hindered some of our growth opportunities I think sure sure and uh what about as a sort of gambling becomes increasingly legal or regulated in neighboring states how or how will that affect either adversely or beneficially the state of play in Oklahoma well as you well know Cameron you know we're always facing additional competition you know like I said earlier 131st plus facilities in Oklahoma we have a great number of competitors that we you know in the state but as those Regional competitors are able to add uh more entertainment more more game forms of gaming on their floor it does put some strain on what we do because of course we're always trying to bring out the the best products we can that our customers want and so uh you know we haven't seen that to date in ways like we did with our table games uh in 2017 we approved craps and roulette which has really helped alleviate some of that pressure where we saw people going to those markets we haven't seen that and I'll use for example sports betting yet um but I think we will see that over the next couple of years as those uh competitive uh fires get more intense sports betting arriving in Oklahoma yes you know we we have uh the surrounding states uh are either in the process of deploying or have legalized the next the last Domino to fall would be the state of Texas the Texas legislature is in session in 2023. we know it's going to be an item of discussion so you know the sooner that we can level that playing field with game offerings it's only it only serves to better our operators and I wanted to ask because right now in California there's this heated uh competition of what sports betting will look like in the state it's up for on two ballot initiatives in November seem to have the commercial operators versus the tribal operators as uh chairman of the Oklahoma Indian gaming Association we're sports betting to come to Oklahoma what would your ideal form of it look like well I I think in Oklahoma because of the way we structured our gaming compacts there's not a question that the right to operate uh or be licensed for such a game rest with with our tribal government so you know we'd be looking to those uh um Partners in the uh in the industry you know whether that's your DraftKings vandals bet MGM Caesars whatever product you may look at and you know for our operators decide whether they want to go out and purchase something from them whether they want to take a white label product and stand it up on their own but the licensing in the operator status would be no doubt in my mind be be uh you know exclusive to tribal governments uh you know and I think we have a strong legal standing support that position sure sure and uh sort of a final question I wanted to know how the uh say Oklahoma Indian gaming Association uh cooperates with other tribal gaming institutions around the country and all the way up to the national Indian gaming Association sure you know I think we have a great relationship among our our regional Indian gaming trade associations we work regularly with Washington with with California also with Minnesota we have a good relationship with the United Southeastern tribes as well uh in in what they do in their part we we have a strong long-standing relationship with uh with the Indian gaming Association I myself actually have been a long a board member of that that group so you know that helps in facilitating those conversations including we have several of our tribal governmental gaming operation Oklahoma that are members of the American gaming Association so you see us reaching out in Oklahoma to a variety of different partners and organizations try to making sure that we're stay at the Forefront and we know what's coming down the pipe but you know all that networking all those conversations only goes to help I think better our industry as a whole and so you know we're always encouraging our individual members and of course our other our other folks that are associated with with Oklahoma gaming Association to make sure that we maintain those relationships sure well that's excellent and good luck with everything thank you for speaking with gaming America of course thank you Cameron chairman Matthew Morgan Oklahoma Indian gaming Association [Music]