Despite scheduling a vote on Assembly Bill 601 for November 19, the Wisconsin State Assembly has instead chosen to pull the legislation, which would potentially allow for Tribal casinos to offer online sports betting to residents throughout the state.
"I don't think we're going to vote on it today," Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August said to local reporters.
"There's really no rush on this. The Senate's not coming back this week. I had a conversation with a couple members over the weekend that brought up some points that I hadn't considered yet. So we're going to work through those and I expect that we'll be voting on it early next year."
Wisconsin Representative Kalan Haywood originally introduced the legislation on October 21, then titled LRB-4723/1, to legalize online sports betting in the state and exclude all sports wagers from falling under the statutory definition of a bet.
"This legislation is an important step to bring Wisconsin in alignment with the majority of the country in regards to sports wagering. For too long, illegal, offshore entities have profited from consumers through unregulated sports wagering, without generating revenue for local economies," Haywood said.
"By regulating this multi-billion-dollar industry, we can provide a safer mobile wagering experience for Wisconsin consumers, and generate much needed revenue to invest into our communities."
Assembly Bill 601 would configure a "hub and spoke" model similar to that of Florida, where Tribes oversee online sports betting in Wisconsin and receive a share of revenue from operators.
The legislation has received pushback from major operators such as DraftKings and FanDuel, as well as the Sports Betting Alliance, due to the requirement of sharing over 50% of online sports betting revenue with Wisconsin Tribes.
Representative Damon Stewart believes operators currently part of the Sports Betting Alliance are open to tethering online sportsbook business to state Tribes, but the lack of involvement from DraftKings and FanDuel may render AB 601 obsolete.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed bills A5447 and S4282 into law on August 15, prohibiting sweepstakes casinos from conducting business and establishing new penalties for unlawful gambling operations
