Wisconsin Sports Betting Bill Moves To Governor’s Desk
Jesse M. Cox Published 26/03/2026
For the second time in the span of a week, the signature of the Governor is all that stands between a major change to the sports betting landscape in that state.
On March 17, the Wisconsin State Senate voted to pass Assembly Bill 601 (AB 601). The bill was approved by a 21-12 vote and gained bipartisan support from the State Senate. There were 12 Democrats and nine Republicans who cast votes in favor of passage. Nine Republicans and three Democrats voted against the measure.
Under current Wisconsin gambling laws, sports betting is only permitted on tribal land. Bets can be made online or via a mobile app as long as the person placing the bet is physically situated inside a tribal casino.
Under the terms of AB 601, online and mobile sports betting would be permitted anywhere in the state of Wisconsin. The only mandate that must be met to make this so is that all servers handling the online sports wagers must be located on tribal land within the state of Wisconsin.
This is known as a hub-and-spoke model. It’s similar to the system utilized by the Seminole Tribe to offer online and mobile sports betting in Florida.
“We’re going to have online gambling,” Democrat Senator Kristin Dassler-Alfheim, one of the bill's co-authors, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “It already exists on the edges, behind closed doors. It’s already there. And it’s already being abused by some, and that’s not going to change.
“I would rather us put as many parameters around it as we can to take care of our consumers and keep the revenues [in Wisconsin].”
Supporters of AB 601 see the measure as being extremely beneficial to the state’s tribes. Tribal leaders threw their support behind the passage of the bill.
"I really think this moment is about collective assertion of tribal sovereignty and the preservation of exclusivity that tribes have fought decades to establish," said Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, a Democrat representing Middleton.
Evers has not made any official public statement on whether he intends to sign the bill into law. He’s given off mixed messages. Originally, he insisted he would support the bill if the state’s tribes were in favor of its passage. More recently, during an interview with Madison's Channel 3000, Evers suggested that he was "not real excited about what's coming out of the Legislature."
A February 2026 poll conducted by Wisconsin’s Marquette University Law School found that 64% of Wisconsin voters were against the idea of legalizing online sports betting. Only 34% of those polled were in favor of the idea.
Washington Governor is also weighing a sports betting bill
In Washington, a bill was approved last week that will make changes to the sports betting laws in that state. It is sitting on Governor Bob Ferguson’s desk, awaiting his signature to turn it into law.
If passed into law, the bill would allow the state’s sports bettors the ability to place wagers on in-state college sports teams and events. That is currently prohibited in Washington.
Bet $10, Get $150 in Bonus Bets If You Win
+10
- 20+ sports available for wagering
- Pre-match and in-play betting
- Unique features like live streaming and boosted odds
up to 100€ Bet Credits
Find out more on bet365's website
- Over 20 sports
- Extensive betting markets
- Live betting feature
New Users – Bet $5 Get $150 If Your Bet Wins!
+8
- Deep market coverage across major U.S. sports and leagues
- Same Game Parlay builder is fast and easy to use
- Live betting interface updates quickly with real-time odds