The Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill late last week that would allow mobile sports betting throughout the state as long as the servers were located on tribal lands, similar to Florida’s compact with the Seminole Tribe. The bill has now advanced to the Senate.
Tribal Monopoly
Wisconsin is one of a handful of states without mobile sports betting and commercial casinos. However, gaming tribal nations are allowed to operate casinos and retail sports betting on their sovereign land. But the push to legalize and license the far more lucrative, compared to retail, mobile sports betting has gained significant traction after AB 601 was passed by the Wisconsin Assembly without debate.
Assembly Approval Sends Bill to Senate
Legislators postponed voting on the measure last session, but it was quickly passed when it reached the Assembly last Thursday and will now be debated in the Senate. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers would be required to sign the legislation should it pass the upper chamber. Federal approval by the Department of the Interior would still be required to update the existing compacts with the tribal nations to allow it.
According to the bill, servers to accept the statewide wagers must be housed on tribal land, but that is not expected to be an obstacle, as a virtually identical blueprint in Florida via a compact with the Seminole Tribe has been in place for over two years.
Last November when the measure was being discussed, Edward Mullen, an elected representative of Wisconsin’s casino-operating Ho-Chunk Nation, testified in front of a Senate hearing the following:
“It would allow the nation, and other tribes, to tap into a new revenue source that can be used to support tribal governmental functions, sustain self-sufficiency, and assist with meeting the needs of tribal members.”
Industry Powerhouses Object
The bill calls for the tribal nations to receive 60% of the profits should they decide to use a third-party platform, ala DraftKings, FanDuel, or any of the other major players in the mobile sports betting market.
This has not gone over well with the industry staples, and they have made their feelings known through their industry lobbying group, the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA), an organization that represents bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDuel.
SBA lobbyist Damon Stewart testified during a committee meeting last year, stating, “Online sports betting is a low-margin, capital-intensive business. It is simply not economically feasible for a commercial operator to hand over 60% to the in-state entity just for the right to operate in the state. That is why Wisconsin adults would not be able to use the national brands they see advertised on national TV every day.”
The last session also discussed a Senate version of a mobile sports betting bill, SB 592. Advocates for both bills insist that digital sports betting is already being accessed by Wisconsinites through offshore sportsbooks or by crossing the border to bet with licensed sportsbooks in neighboring Illinois and Iowa.
Tax Revenue Projections
Wisconsin is not currently reaping the financial benefit of any of those transactions. However, once it is legalized, all that will change, and estimates project mobile sports betting would add an additional $6 million to $12 million in Wisconsin’s annual state tax revenue,over and above the approximately $66 million it receives from tribal casino revenues.
