Wisconsin Bill Will Open State to Online Sports Betting Operators

• Clarifying information has been providing on Sen. Howard L. Marklein’s (R-17) online sports betting bill
• SB 592 will allow outside online sports betting operators to partner with Wisconsin tribes
• Tribes must renegotiate their compacts with the state and receive approval by the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs

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A new Wisconsin online sports betting bill, if approved in the 2026 legislative session, will open the state to outside sports betting operators if they can partner with a federally recognized tribe.

A legislative aide for Sen. Howard L. Marklein (R-17) recently provided clarifying information to Sports Betting Dime on SB 592, a bill to allow Wisconsin tribes to offer online sports betting through a “hub-and-spoke system.”

If approved, federally recognized tribes will be able to partner with outside online sports betting operators to use their platforms, paving the way for companies such as DraftKings and FanDuel to enter the Badger State.

Opening Wisconsin to Outside Companies

Sen. Howard L. Marklein’s bill (R-17) will allow Tribes to offer online sports betting as long as a bet is processed by a server or other device that is physically located on a federally recognized American Indian Tribe’s land.

However, when introduced in late October, there was no clarifying language on whether tribes would be allowed to partner with online sports betting companies to use their platforms or only be allowed to offer their own designed platforms. The bill’s original language simply stated the following:

An event or sports wager made by a person physically located in this state using a mobile or other electronic device if the server or other device used to conduct such event or sports wager is physically located on a federally recognized American Indian tribe’s Indian lands and if the event or sports wager is conducted pursuant to an Indian gaming compact under s. 14.035 originally entered into prior to April 1, 1993.

A representative for Marklein confirmed nothing in the legislation prohibits a state tribe from partnering with a company such as DraftKings or FanDuel. To do so, a tribe will be required to renegotiate its gaming compact with Wisconsin and receive approval from the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Marklein’s bill currently sits in the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Revenue. It will have its first hearing on Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 12 p.m. CST.

“I introduced this legislation because millions of dollars in illegal betting is already taking place in Wisconsin. Creating a transparent, regulated system for this mobile gambling to take place protects Wisconsin consumers, allows the tribes to benefit from it, and captures valuable tax revenue that can be used for education and healthcare,” Marklein said.

Wisconsin has 11 federally recognized tribes and each of them offer gaming in some way. The following eight tribes currently have approved sports betting in their gaming compacts:

• St. Croix Chippewa Indians
• Oneida Tribe of Indians
• Forest County Potawatomi Community
• Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
• Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
• Sokaogon Chippewa Community
• Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
• Stockbridge-Munsee Community

Who Has Ties to Wisconsin Sports Betting?

In-person and online sports betting is currently legal in Wisconsin, but only on tribal land. Marklein’s new bill would expand online sports betting off tribal land across the state, but only if each individual bet is processed on a server located on tribal land.

If approved, the state will allow tribes to offer online sports betting through a “hub-and-spoke system,” which is is the same methodology used by the Seminole Tribe to legalize online sports betting in Florida. The tribe began offering online sports betting in the state in 2021, arguing that since its servers were located on its tribal land, any bet placed in the state and processed through the device were technically made on tribal land.

Despite the current limited sports betting landscape, DraftKings already has a tribal partnership.

Currently, DraftKings has an in-person and retail sports betting partnership with the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. DraftKings and the tribe agreed to the access deal in 2024, which allows the sports betting company to operate a retail sportsbook operation at the tribe’s Lake of the Torches Resort Casino.

The tribal casinos offers six DraftKings sports betting kiosks and one over-the-counter window located on the casino floor, adjacent to the property’s sports bar.