Recently, there has been new progress regarding the proposal for the legalization of online sports betting in Wisconsin, which was originally scheduled for a vote this year but has been postponed to the legislative session in early 2026. This matter involves multiple interests including tribal casinos, professional sports teams, and national betting operators. Let's take a closer look at what's going on.
Why the proposal was suddenly postponed
The proposal was removed from the agenda in Wednesday's legislative session. Majority leader Taylor August mentioned that after discussions with several legislators over the weekend, new issues were identified that needed further research. He openly stated, "There's really no rush for this," planning to vote in January next year. The state Senate has also adjourned and will not reconvene until next year.
What is a "hub-and-spoke" system?
The core of this proposal is to establish a tribal-led online gambling model, which simply means allowing 11 tribes and sports betting operators to collaborate, but the servers must be located on tribal lands—similar to the Hard Rock Bet model implemented by the Seminole Tribe in Florida. The Milwaukee Brewers and the Bucks support this plan, and the Potawatomi tribe has been a long-time sponsor of these two teams.
The struggle between tribes and national operators
Tribal representative Ortiz emphasized that their goal is "collaboration, not ownership," but national operators like DraftKings and FanDuel are pushing for prediction markets—which are federally regulated and can operate across states. However, the tribes see this as a loophole and even warn that prediction markets might violate state gambling laws. Currently, the parties have not yet agreed on a revenue-sharing framework, with operators required to give 60% of the revenue to the collaborating tribes.
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