Wisconsin Online Sports Betting Bill Could Launch in 2026 Without FanDuel or DraftKings
Wisconsin could bring sports betting online in 2026 but don’t expect FanDuel, DraftKings, or BetMGM to become legal within state lines.
Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August, a Republican from Walworth, spoke with Spectrum News on Assembly Bill 601 that would allow Wisconsin tribes to offer online sports betting.
August, who co-authored the bipartisan bill, spoke on the changes proposed in the new legislation, “It just simply changes the definition of what a bet is to include a sports bet on a mobile device.”
Currently, sports betting in Wisconsin is legal, but only in-person at tribal casinos like Potawatomi, Lake of the Torches, and St. Croix. The bill will follow Florida’s sports betting “hub and spoke” model, where all of the servers and technology is located on tribal lands.
Brewers, Bucks, and Packers Support Legal Online Sports Betting
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is expected to sign the bill if it has the backing of Wisconsin’s tribes.
From there, the state would need to negotiate updated gaming compacts with each tribe, which must receive federal approval before sports betting apps could launch.
Last year, a similar bill was pulled from the Assembly calendar but there’s hope that the new proposal will land on the Senate floor.
At the time, Jeff Crawford, attorney general for the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe, reported the Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Green Bay Packers were all in support of the legislation being signed into law.
Prediction Market Launches Put Added Pressure On Legalization
Since then, Fanatics and DraftKings have opened prediction markets in the state and FanDuel is expected to follow suit in the near future. This development has added pressure on lawmakers to clarify Wisconsin’s betting framework before national operators gain a deeper foothold in the state.
“I think it’s responsible legislation,” August said in the interview.
“If we’re worried about problem gambling, we should be wanting to push the online sports gaming into the tribal structure, where we can rely on our Wisconsin-based tribes to operate because they ultimately have the same goals as we do — a healthy and prosperous Wisconsin — versus these out-of-state companies that are really just coming in here to make a quick buck.”
For now, the bill’s path forward will hinge on tribal support and compact negotiations, setting up a sports betting market that prioritizes tribal control over national sportsbook brands.
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