Published on: February 20, 2026, 10:39h.
Updated on: February 20, 2026, 10:39h.
- Wisconsin’s State Assembly has approved legislation for online sports betting.
- The proposed law aims to give exclusive online sportsbook rights to the state’s Native tribes.
- The local online sports betting market may not attract major operators such as DraftKings and FanDuel.
Currently, Wisconsin is among the 39 states that permit legal sports betting, yet all bets must be placed in-person at tribal casinos. Assembly Bill 601 aims to transform this by allowing online wagering.
Assembly Bill 601 is a bipartisan initiative that would enable Wisconsin’s 11 compact tribes to accept sports bets online. The legislation mandates that remote bettors must be physically located within Wisconsin, and the servers for the sportsbooks must reside on tribal land.
This online sports betting legislation is a continuation from previous sessions. Its counterpart in the Senate, Senate Bill 592, was previously approved last fall.
Recently, AB601 successfully passed the voice vote in the Wisconsin State Assembly and is now set for consideration in the Senate.
Hub-and-Spoke Tribal Sports Betting Model
Among the 32 states that permit both in-person and online sports betting, the online domain dominates the market.
For example, New Jersey reported that out of $12.2 billion in sports wagers last year, over $11.7 billion were placed online.
AB601 intends to redefine tribal gaming regulations, allowing a person within Wisconsin to place a sports bet through a mobile or electronic device, provided the server facilitating the wager is located on reservation land owned by a federally recognized American Indian tribe.
The hub-and-spoke model for tribal sports betting was pioneered in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe successfully argued that, under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, online sports betting is permissible as long as the betting servers operate on tribal lands.
However, opposition exists against online tribal sports gambling. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty argues that AB601 breaches the state constitution by introducing a new gambling type without public approval.
Conditions for Tribal Participation
In Florida, the Seminole Tribe retains exclusive control over casino gambling and sports wagering, operating their online platform, Hard Rock Bet.
Federal law mandates that approximately 60% of the income from tribal gaming operations must stay with the tribe itself. This raises concerns about whether Wisconsin’s online sports betting environment, if AB601 advances through the Senate and is signed by Governor Tony Evers, could entice major players like DraftKings and FanDuel.
The Sports Betting Alliance, comprising companies like FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Fanatics, and bet365, advocates for legalizing commercial online sports betting through a public referendum. They contend that the existing tribal model and the mandated revenue sharing would make Wisconsin less appealing to larger online sportsbooks, potentially resulting in decreased revenue for both the tribes and the state.