ONEIDA (NBC 26) — Wisconsin tribal leaders are praising the governor's passage of Act 247 this week, which legalizes online sports betting across the state.
Until now, sports bets in the state could be placed only on tribal grounds. The new bill does not legalize sports wagering through outside companies, however. The servers used to manage the online bets must be located on Wisconsin's tribal lands.
"Signing this bill is an expression of our strong and productive government-to-government relationship with the state of Wisconsin," stated Lisa Liggins, tribal secretary for the Oneida Nation. "It’s expansion that’s allowing for regulated and legal gaming."
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Mark Sommerhauser, Communications Director for the Wisconsin Policy Forum, said that while this is possibly the first step in the legalization of all online gambling, that wouldn't be easy to do.
"We have a pretty broad constitutional prohibition on most forms of gambling in Wisconsin," Sommerhauser explained.
Under their existing compacts with the state, tribes have exclusive rights to conduct gaming operations in Wisconsin, and they make annual payments to the state for that right. In 2024, tribal gaming payments to the state totaled more than $66 million.
With the legalization of online sports wagering, "That is something that, you know, could potentially stand to increase," Sommerhauser noted.
The state will now begin negotiations with the tribes to craft a plan that benefits all nations equally. Governor Evers has said that he will not accept a plan that favors any tribal nation over the other.
"We’re just looking forward to those next steps," Liggins said.
The negotiations could take months or more.
