LEGAL SPORTS BETTING IN WISCONSIN EXPANDS WITH TWO NEW TRIBES

Dave Schwab Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

Betting on sports recently became legal in Wisconsin via the state’s tribal casino network. Governor Tony Evers was able to successfully negotiate an amended gaming compact with the Oneida Nation as the starting point.

Once federal approval was secured through the US Department of the Interior, the Oneida Nation was granted the green light to launch a retail sportsbook. In November of this year, Oneida Casino near the Green Bay airport started accepting legal wagers as the first and only retail sportsbook in Wisconsin.

Recent developments in the state point towards two more gaming tribes joining the list. Gov. Evers just signed an amended gaming compact with the St. Croix Chippewa.

The amended compact will pave the way for retail sportsbooks in this gaming tribe’s three casinos. These land-based casinos are located in Turtle Lake, Danbury and Hertel.

Approval on the federal level still needs to take place. This process can take up to 45 days. However, the St. Croix Chippewa are already moving forward with their plans. The tribe has begun construction on a sports betting lounge in the Turtle Lake casino location.

Tribal Chairman Williams Reynolds offered the following comment in light of the situation:

"The addition of sports wagering at the St. Croix Casinos will give our tribe the ability to give our customers the most comprehensive gaming experience in the state of Wisconsin."

The early estimate to go live with legal retail sports betting at these casino locations is two or three months. This time frame takes into consideration federal approval as well as the logistics involved in the construction process.

Further expansion of legal sports betting in Wisconsin is expected in 2022. Gov. Evers has been working on an amended compact agreement with the Forest County Potawatomi Community. This would give this gaming tribe the ability to add sports betting to their gaming casinos.

What makes this amended compact so special is a casino location in Milwaukee. This would bring legal sports betting to the home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers.

Wisconsin lawmakers still have the capability of passing legislation for commercial sports betting. This could include legal online sports betting through mobile sportsbook apps from companies such as FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM.

However, there are no current developments with any new legislative efforts to change existing laws as 2021 comes to a close.

One major roadblock to the expansion of legal sports betting to commercial operators would be Wisconsin’s Citizens Against Expanded Gambling. This has proven to be a very vocal group when it comes to the opposition commercial sports betting faces in this state.

This means that Oneida Casino in Green Bay will remain the only game in town for the upcoming NFL Super Bowl. Given that the Packers are one of the top favorites to win, that could be a very popular destination on Sunday, Feb. 13.

Written by Dave Schwab, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise here.

Dave Schwab

Dave Schwab has been covering the sports betting industry for the past 12 years as the main focus of his specialty marketing company for online content. This endeavor followed a previous career in the field of sales and marketing in the wholesaling sector.Most of his weekly pieces focus on the rapidly expanding legal US sports betting industry. However, he still does extensive work covering betting angles that can provide a competitive edge to avid players. Dave believes that it is always a challenge to take past results and current form to try and correctly determine a future result. Sports brings out the unpredictability in what should be a fairly predictable outcome based on the stats, facts and recent trends in a particular matchup. More from Dave Schwab