Many fans have missed having the Bedlam rivalry annually on the football field since its extinction in 2023, but apparently not as much as the Norman and Stillwater economies have.
Norman mayor Stephen Tyler Holman announced Tuesday during a city council meeting that he and Stillwater mayor Will Joyce joined forces to co-author a piece of legislation that would make it a state law that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State meet in football every year in a home-and-home series. The mayors used economic development for both towns as the reason to require Bedlam and, according to Holman, the bill did not have any pushback, so will now go to the state legislature for consideration.
Mayors want Bedlam football back for economic development
"We felt that, in Norman's case, we're playing New Mexico and UTEP at home next year. A nonconference game like against OSU would be much more beneficial to the local Norman economy than playing New Mexico or UTEP," Holman said. "And same thing for Stillwater. It would be much more beneficial to their local economy to have OU come visit every other season."
Norman Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman and the Stillwater mayor co-authored legislation that, if it passes the state legislature, would ensure a yearly Bedlam football game.#Sooners pic.twitter.com/QWEk0GN8re
— OU Daily (@OUDaily) February 11, 2026
The fear of losing Bedlam impacting both local economies was an issue government officials saw coming, though, especially in Stillwater.
“I think from game day economics, we might not see a huge dip, but without the Bedlam rivalry not continuing, I think you see a just a general overall economic decline in things like t-shirt sales and just all the stuff that goes into bedlam,” Joyce told Oklahoma News 4 ahead of the final Bedlam in Stillwater.
Although Bedlam has continued in every other sport as nonconference matchups since OU left the Big 12 for the SEC, there hasn't been any real movement in the rivalry being renewed in football, mostly because nonconference games are scheduled so far in advance.
However, there has been talk of bringing Bedlam back in just the last year. Outgoing OU athletic director Joe Castiglione told Tulsa World in October that a few months before he had reached out to OSU about restarting Bedlam, but “OSU’s interest was minimal.” Since then, though, OSU fired head coach Mike Gundy and replaced him with Eric Morris, who in his introductory press conference proclaimed he'd, "Welcome it with open arms.”
So far, though, it's been all talk from both schools and, surprisingly, politicians were the first to take any sort of known action. Whether they even have the power to actually make it happen is a different story.