Bill calls for bypassing Wisconsin constitution to take online sports betting statewide

Wisconsin is one of 39 states allowing some form of sports betting, but under its constitution, only on tribal lands.

Thirty-one states allow online sports betting anywhere.

A new bill backed by legislators in both parties and pushed by tribal lobbyists would, essentially, get around the constitution and take online sports betting statewide.

"Everyone was kind of scratching their heads saying, ‘How can we bring this to Wisconsin’ (without changing the Constitution),” said George Ermert, spokesperson for the Forest County Potawatomi Community, which owns and operates the Milwaukee casino.

Wisconsin tribal and state officials learned from a court case in Florida that started in 2021 when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new gaming compact with the Seminole Nation that allowed the tribe to operate an online sports betting system.

It’s called the "hub and spoke” model because the servers (hub) would be located on tribal lands while the users with online devices (spokes) could be located anywhere else in the state.

The Florida compact was quickly challenged by West Flagler Associates, a company that owns casinos and racetracks in Florida. The case made it to the D.C. Court of Appeals, where West Flagler lost and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which recently declined to hear the case.

"This is now the law of the land,” Ermert said of the "hub and spoke” model.

The bill was introduced by state representatives Tyler August (R-Walworth) and Kalan Haywood (D-Milwaukee), and state senators Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Kristin Dassler-Alfheim (D-Appleton).

"The tribes are offering a better pathway,” Ermert said.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2025/10/22/bipartisan-bill-would-take-online-sports-betting-across-wisconsin/86805844007/