A new bill would allow Wisconsin residents to bet on sports anywhere in the state.
Under the Wisconsin constitution, betting is only allowed on tribal lands. The bill would circumvent this restriction by allowing people around Wisconsin to bet remotely through servers located on tribal land.
This “hub-and-spoke” model replicates one pioneered in Florida in 2021. The system was challenged in the courts but was ruled legal in the D.C. Court of Appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the case in 2024.
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State Sen. Kristin Dassler-Alfheim, D-Appleton, is part of a bipartisan group that introduced the bill last week. She told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that she expects the state will see a 10 percent increase in gambling tax revenue if this is signed into law.
“Really, it’s just giving everyone access to the online markets that the rest of the country is enjoying, that our state has not had access to via the (hub-and-spoke),” Dassler-Alfheim said.
A lawsuit filed in August by Wisconsin’s Ho-Chunk Nation argues that gambling is already happening illegally around the state. The tribe is suing to stop prediction markets Kalshi and Robinhood from running what it calls online sports gambling operations in violation of state, federal and tribal laws. Kalshi has said the company’s status as a future predictions market means it is regulated as a financial marketplace instead of a betting operation, so gaming regulations shouldn’t apply.
The growing interest in online gambling comes as problem gambling rates are increasing nationwide. The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that 7.5 to 10.5 million U.S. adults qualify as having a gambling problem of some type, with 2.5 million American adults having a severe gambling problem.
Gambling rates are higher among younger bettors and men, with a poll from the Siena College Research Institute and St. Bonaventure University’s Jandoli School of Communication finding that 48 percent of men from 18 to 49 years old have an account with at least one online sportsbook.
When asked if allowing sports betting statewide via online sites could lead to an increase in problem gambling, Dassler-Alfheim said there will always be some people who struggle with gambling and there need to be resources to help them.
“That doesn’t change with access to this tool,” Dassler-Alfheim said. “That will continue to be a problem. It is the rest of the people who are just using it for entertainment that we’re allowing to have access to a tool that everybody else already has.”
