UPDATE: Wisconsin Senators Formally Introduce Online Sports Betting Bill

• After reports came out last week, several Wisconsin lawmakers have formally introduced an online sports betting bill
• The proposed bill will legalize online sports betting for tribes as long as bets are processed through a server on tribal land
• SB 592 is a bipartisan bill cosponsored by several senators and House of Representative members

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Wisconsin legislators are formally hoping to modify the state’s gaming rules to allow its federally recognized tribes to offer online sports betting.

After reports came out earlier this month that an online sports betting bill was looming in the Badger State, several bipartisan lawmakers last week formally introduced SB 592 to allow Wisconsin tribes to offer online sports betting through a “hub-and-spoke system.”

An identical bill, AB 601, was also introduced in the House of Representatives.

Bills Provide Few Details on Legalization

Sen. Howard L. Marklein’s bill (R-17) will allow Tribes to be able 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. A representative for Marklein confirmed that tribes will be able to partner with online sports betting companies to use their platforms.

This will allow entry for DraftKings, FanDuel, Fanatics Sportsbook, and any other sports betting company that partners with a tribe.

“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 told Sports Betting Dime.

It currently sits in the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Revenue.

The state would 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.

The decision set off several years of legal battles between the tribes and a number of detractors, eventually finding itself in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court eventually denied a hearing in June 2024, preserving several state and federal legal victories from the Seminole Tribe and allowing online sports betting to continue in the state.

The Wisconsin bill will legalize online sports betting through the same “hub-and-spoke” model as the Seminole Tribe. As long as a Wisconsin tribe has an approved gaming compact with the U.S. Department of the Interior that allows sports betting, and processes sports bets through a server on its tribal land, online sports betting will be legal.

The bill is currently sponsored by Senators Kristin Dassler-Alfheim (D-18), Dan Feyen (R-20), Mark Spreitzer (D-15), and Patrick Testin (R-24) and 15 House of Representatives members.

Who Will Be Able to Offer Sports Bets?

Details are not yet clear if Wisconsin tribes will be able to partner with sports betting companies for their online sports betting platforms. In Florida, only the Seminole Tribe’s Hard Rock Bet platform is available for customers, though there have been past discussions to allow outside operators into the state.

Marklein did not respond to a request for comment from Sports Betting Dime.

Judging by the official language in Marklein’s bill, there does not seem to be a prohibition for a tribe with an approved gaming compact to partner with a sports betting operator to use its online platform:

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.

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.