(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s online sports wagering bill won’t be voted on during the session on Wednesday, Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said.
Neubauer said she wasn’t certain yet the reason it was pulled, but conservative radio host Dan O’Donnell reported the move came after eight Assembly Republicans objected to the bill, putting the total supporters under 50, which he said is a long-standing rule that 50 members of the majority party must support a bill in order for it to be put on the calendar.
Neubauer, meanwhile, said she would support Assembly Bill 601.
“We know that our tribes in Wisconsin have the right to control gaming in our state, and that’s not happening with online sports betting,” Neubauer said. “I do hope that we pass a bill that puts control of that industry back in their hands.”
The move comes after Rep. Tyler August (R-Walworth) sent a memo to fellow lawmakers earlier in the week urging the bill’s passage, as prediction markets – similar to sports wagering but allowed through federal oversight – are available across the country.
“If we leave a gray area in state law, national prediction platforms will fill it without our compact framework, Wisconsin oversight, or Wisconsin consumer safeguards,” August wrote. “AB 601 does the opposite: it channels activity into a regulated, Wisconsin-based, compacted environment with clear jurisdiction and accountability. This protects consumers, respects tribal sovereignty, and keeps revenue tied to Wisconsin operations rather than flowing to unaligned national apps.”
The proposal would also need to be approved by the Senate and signed by Gov. Tony Evers, who has indicated he would approve of a bill keeping gaming with the tribes.
The proposal would change the state’s definition of “bet” to allow the tribes to offer mobile sports wagering as long as the bettor is in Wisconsin and the sportsbook servers are on tribal land, an amendment to current compacts allowing for casino gambling and sports wagering on tribal lands despite the state’s ban on betting.
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Prediction markets, however, have taken off this fall during football season with offerings very similar to sportsbooks, where operators such as Kalshi and Polymarket offer what they call event contracts, where users pick a side in a matchup or election and put their money behind that side against other users.
States tax regulated sportsbooks, but are not able to tax the prediction markets. In Wisconsin’s case, the bill would pave the way for tribal online sports wagering that is subject to revenue-sharing pacts between the 11 recognized tribes and the state.