The Wisconsin State Assembly has passed Assembly Bill 601, sending the legislation to the Senate floor and providing the next step to potentially authorizing online sports betting under Tribal authority.
According to AB 601, online sports betting operators granted licensing in Wisconsin must place any gaming servers on federally recognized Tribal lands, given the communities’ pre-existing gaming compacts with state authorities.
The legislation would follow a similar model currently operating in Florida, and will also require an update to the gaming compacts made with Tribal leaders, as well as gain approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Wisconsin Tribes which could potentially offer online sports betting under AB 601 are mandated to retain 60% of all revenue generated from the vertical.
The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA), which includes operators such as FanDuel and DraftKings, raised concern over the allocation requirements featured within AB 601 when the legislation was first proposed last year.
“Online sports betting is a low-margin and capital-intensive business. It is simply not economically feasible for a commercial operator to hand over 60% just for the right to operate in the state,” SBA Representative Damon Stewart said.
“That is why Wisconsin adults would not be able to use the national brands they see advertised on national TV every day.”
The SBA went on to state AB 601’s current framework would not work for FanDuel or DraftKings, but did not confirm whether fellow Alliance operators such as bet365, BetMGM and Fanatics would be able to conduct business in Wisconsin.
AB 601 will now head to Wisconsin’s Senate floor for further consideration, having failed to pass through the state’s legislative body in 2025 prior to being re-proposed earlier this year.
Brightstar Lottery was awarded a long-term contract to provide the Wisconsin Lottery with its fully integrated Omnia lottery solution on January 27, continuing a partnership which dates back over three decades
