Wisconsin Online Sports Betting Inches Closer With State Assembly Approval
Posted on: February 20, 2026, 10:39h.
Last updated on: February 20, 2026, 10:39h.
- Legislation to allow online sports bets in Wisconsin passed the State Assembly
- The bill would give Wisconsin’s native tribes the exclusive rights to online sportsbooks
- The market might not be attractive to sportsbook bigwigs like DraftKings and FanDuel
Wisconsin is one of the 39 states that has legal sports betting, but bets are currently limited to in-person at tribal casinos. Assembly Bill 601 seeks to change that to allow online wagers.
AB601 is bipartisan legislation that would permit Wisconsin’s 11 compacted tribes to take sports bets online. The statute would require that remote bettors be physically located within the Badger State, and that the sportsbook computer servers remain on sovereign tribal land.
The Wisconsin online sports betting bill is a carryover from 2025. The bill’s Senate counterpart, Senate Bill 592, gained the Senate’s blessing last fall.
On Thursday, AB601 passed the Wisconsin State Assembly on a voice vote. The bill now moves to the upper chamber for review.
Hub-and-Spoke Tribal Sports Betting
There are 32 states that allow for both in-person and online sports betting. In those markets, online bets dominate.
In New Jersey, for instance, of the $12.2 billion wagered on sports last year, more than $11.7 billion was bet online.
AB601 would amend the definition of tribal gaming to allow a sports wager to be made by a person physically located in Wisconsin “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.”
The hub-and-spoke tribal sports betting model arose in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the Seminole Tribe successfully argued in federal court that tribal gaming, as defined by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, allows for online sports betting, so long as the sportsbook computer server remains on tribal lands.
There are opponents to online tribal sports gambling. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty says AB601 violates the Wisconsin Constitution by authorizing a new form of gambling without the people’s consent.
Tribal Conditions
In Florida, the Seminoles maintain their monopoly on casino-style gambling and sports betting. Online, the tribe operates the Hard Rock Bet platform.
Federal tribal gaming law mandates that about 60% of the revenue generated by a Native American gaming operation remain with the tribe. That calls into question whether Wisconsin’s online sports betting market, should AB601 find favor in the Senate and is signed by Gov. Tony Evers (D), would attract players like DraftKings and FanDuel.
The Sports Betting Alliance, whose members include FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Fanatics, and bet365, favors legalizing commercial online sports betting through a referendum. The advocacy argues that the hub-and-spoke tribal sports gambling model and the 60% allocation mandate would render Wisconsin unattractive to commercial online sportsbooks. The SBA claims that would lead to reduced revenue for both tribes and the state.
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