See you in 2026, Wisconsin.
After a few weeks of progress and pushback, it appears that the effort to bring statewide online sports betting to the Badger State will have to wait until next year to resume.
- Wisconsin lawmakers have delayed a vote on Assembly Bill 601, pushing the effort to authorize statewide online sports betting to early 2026.
- The pause follows new lawmaker concerns and growing tension between major national sportsbooks and tribes over a framework that gives tribes at least 60% of revenue.
- Tribal representatives argue they are fully capable of running online sports betting and say the model would support tribal revenue and services.
Assembly Bill 601, which would make a small but significant tweak to enable online sports betting, was scheduled for a vote on Wednesday in the Wisconsin State Assembly. That vote never came.
Republican Rep. Tyler August, the majority leader in the Wisconsin Assembly, said during a press conference the same day that the bill would not be voted on yet, even though he believed it would pass. Instead, August said, the legislation will come back before lawmakers early next year.
August explains that the delay came out of conversations over the weekend with colleagues, not constitutional issues. pic.twitter.com/TmdzubWnwb
— Jon Styf (@JonStyf) November 19, 2025
In explaining the delay, August said he’d spoken with colleagues over the weekend who had raised points he hadn’t considered. He didn’t offer any specifics about what those potential concerns about Wisconsin sports betting were, noting only that they did not relate to the constitutionality of authorizing mobile sports wagering and that they would be working to address the sticking points.
“There’s no rush on this,” August said. "It’s the right thing for the state, and I'm confident that we'll get there.”
The comments from a prominent Wisconsin lawmaker suggest the effort to authorize mobile wagering throughout the state, which already has legal sports betting on Native American lands, has been delayed but not denied. They also suggest there could be some tweaking to the framework that’s been proposed and progressed in the Wisconsin legislature thus far.
That framework would authorize online sports betting in Wisconsin through Native American tribes that have gaming agreements with the state. A.B. 601, and similar legislation in the Wisconsin Senate, would really just make a small amendment to state law to help implement that vision. Updated gaming compacts between the tribe and state would still need to be agreed to and then approved by the federal government as well.
No hard feelings?
The proposed framework has also received criticism from the biggest operators of online sports betting sites in the U.S., who say it would sideline them from participating.
The Sports Betting Alliance argued the requirement to hand over at least 60% of revenue to the tribes would not make financial sense for its members and would weaken the legal Wisconsin market as a result of their non-participation.
“Online sports betting is a low-margin, capital-intensive business,” said lobbyist Damon Stewart, on behalf of the Sports Betting Alliance, during a committee meeting. “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.”
These kinds of comments offended Wisconsin’s gaming tribes, who say they are more than capable of running an effective and attractive online sports betting market.
Edward Mullen, an elected representative of Wisconsin's casino-operating Ho-Chunk Nation, told a Senate committee that they are "highly capable" of conducting mobile wagering.
"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," Mullen said.
