Choctaw Nation's Influence in Texas Sports and Gaming

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00:00All right, so finally, let's get to this Choctaw Casino.

00:06I'm very familiar with Choctaw Casino, by the way, because why, Craig?

00:10Well, the old stadium in Texas, okay, in Arlington,

00:16they have the new ballpark where the Rangers play.

00:17The old one is now called Choctaw Stadium because I was just there for

00:21the All-Star game, that's where they had their Fan Fest and everything else.

00:24This is a tribe that has a very big footprint on a lot of gaming things

00:28in both Oklahoma and Texas.

00:30So I found this really intriguing to think, Pat, that there's a possibility

00:34that this tribe could have the biggest footprint as far as getting sports betting

00:38going in either state.

00:40Is that the case?

00:41I mean, yeah, and that is what they are trying to aim to be.

00:45Of course, the Choctaw Nation is the third largest Indian tribe in the country,

00:49so they've got a huge footprint as it is.

00:52They have a casino that's 90 miles north of Dallas, which kind of,

00:57that's a pretty close proximity for somebody who's in Dallas and

01:00wants to get to gambling, which you don't have in Texas yet.

01:04So that's a huge thing on its own, and that helps explain why they've taken

01:07such drastic measures in partnerships, to your point, of that stadium.

01:11They've got partnerships with the Stars, Mavericks, Texas Rangers,

01:15and they just partnered with the Dallas Open,

01:17a tennis tournament that is one of the most elite tournaments now.

01:21And yeah, I think it's just to kind of double down,

01:24make sure that Texans know what they are for when, you know,

01:28maybe they do want to go up north and gamble a little bit.

01:30But also of note, the Choctaw Nation has partnered with

01:34Camby to be the back end of a sports betting platform,

01:37and they have aspirations to be a big player in sports betting.

01:41What does that mean nationally?

01:44I'm not sure, but it's certainly setting up for if Oklahoma legalizes

01:48and to be a major player in Oklahoma and, of course, in Texas,

01:51which, as we've talked about a lot recently,

01:54a study has recently said that that could be the biggest handle,

01:58you know, market that has the biggest handle in the U.S.

02:01So there's lots of, you know, even if DraftKings and Fandle

02:04do their big push in there and maintain their top status as a top two,

02:10you know, a powerful partnership with a lot of local teams

02:15and a big power behind it in that tribe could make, you know, some needles move.