Wisconsin bettors may soon have the chance to wager on the Packers or Badgers right on their mobile phones. The state Senate recently approved a bill legalizing online sports betting. The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Tony Evers (D).
Evers has yet to indicate whether he would sign the bill, but legislators have worked for weeks to approve the legislation. Wisconsin legalized sports betting at casinos in 2021. Lawmakers are hoping to add online betting now.
AB 601 was introduced by Rep. Tyler August (R) in November and would legalize betting through the state’s tribal groups. Sen. Kristin Dassler-Alfheim (D) sponsored the bill in the Senate and said regulating an industry that was currently operating illegally was the best move.
“If we’re going to have online gambling – which we are; it already exists on the edges, behind closed doors,” she told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It’s already there. And it’s already being abused by some and that’s not going to change. I would rather us put as many parameters around it as we can to take care of our consumers and keep the revenues.”
New Compacts Needed
Before online sports betting could begin, August’s bill required renegotiated compacts with the state. Under the legislation, tribes can partner with sports betting operators. There are 25 tribal casinos in the state and no commercial gaming properties.
The state constitution makes most gambling illegal in the Badger State except on tribal lands. The bill now makes an exception to the legal definition of betting so that residents can wager online or via mobile app as long as servers processing the wager are located on tribal lands.
“I really think this moment is about collective assertion of tribal sovereignty and the preservation of exclusivity that tribes have fought decades to establish,” said Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D).
The country has seen 39 states along with Washington D.C. and the US territory of Puerto Rico legalize sports betting since the Supreme Court lifted the ban in 2018.
Some lawmakers are trying to follow Wisconsin’s lead. The Mississippi House passed a mobile sports betting bill in February. Previous efforts have died in the Senate and those obstacles still remain in the upper chamber.
