- Senate Bill 592 was discussed by the Wisconsin Senate Committee on Agriculture and Revenue today. The group favors the hub-and-spoke sports betting model that the bill establishes over other sports betting models because it allows the tribes of Wisconsin to secure a high revenue share.
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Senate Committee on Agriculture and Revenue discussed Senate Bill 592 today. The committee discussed how SB 592 would work and why the Sports Betting Alliance group opposes the bill.
What is Senate Bill 592 in Wisconsin?
Senate Bill 592 would legalize online sports betting sites in Wisconsin. The bill clarifies that the hub-and-spoke model is legal, which means Wisconsin residents could bet anywhere in the state using sportsbook apps and sites that have servers based on Native American tribal lands.
Eight tribes would have the option to host servers based on their Native lands and either operate their own online sports betting app/site or partner with a provider like DraftKings, FanDuel, or Caesars. Those eight tribes include the Forest County Potawatomi Community, Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Oneida Tribe of Indians, Sokaogon Chippewa Community, St. Croix Chippewa Indians, and the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.
The goal of Senate Bill 592 in Wisconsin is to create a new statute, Section 1.945.01 (1)(h), that says:
“An event or sports wager made by a person physically located in 5this state using a mobile or other electronic device if the server or other device used to conduct such event or sports wager is physically located on a federally recognized American Indian tribe’s Indian lands and if the event or sports wager is conducted pursuant to an Indian gaming compact under s. 14.035 originally entered into prior to April 1, 1993.”
That new statute is meant to exclude bets made via the hub-and-spoke model from the list of illegal bet types that are currently misdemeanors in Wisconsin.
A few other states with sports betting sites operate with the hub and spoke model. Sports betting in Florida is the most commonly brought up example of this model, with others including Arkansas and Kansas.
Why Does the Sports Betting Alliance Oppose Senate Bill 592 In Wisconsin?
The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) opposes Senate Bill 592 in Wisconsin because it forces the companies that make up the alliance (Bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDuel) to partner with Native American tribes in the state in order to offer their services. The SBA members would rather be able to obtain direct licenses from the state, because they would not need to form those partnerships.
When legal online sportsbooks partner with a tribe, they are forced to come to an agreement on a revenue split. If partnerships are not required, then members of the SBA could get a sports betting license and not split their revenue with any of the tribes.
What Was Said At the Wisconsin Senate Committee on Agriculture and Revenue Meeting?
The purpose of today’s meeting was for three experts on Native American sports betting in Wisconsin to discuss the current bill and why the Sports Betting Alliance opposes the proposal.
The experts on the committee were Scott Crowell (Crowell Law Office Tribal Advocacy Group), Dominic Ortiz (CEO of Potawatomi Casino & Hotel), and Victor Rocha (Chair of the National Indiana Gaming Association). All three experts effectively had the same opinion, which was that the hub-and-spoke model that allows tribes to partner with sports betting providers is the best option for the tribes of the state.
Each expert spoke about how the hub-and-spoke model allows tribes to negotiate high revenue splits with potential sports betting partners. In this proposal, tribes don’t have to partner with nationally known legal sports betting providers either; they can offer sports betting themselves.
This higher percent revenue split, if tribes decide not to create their own sportsbook, makes Senate Bill 592 the clear favorite for Native American tribes in Wisconsin.
