Another Wisconsin sports betting option may soon be in the cards.
The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians have apparently been approved to offer sports gambling services in the Badger State. Similar green lights have been given to other tribes in the state. As it stands, though, only three casinos offer sports betting in Wisconsin. Those locations are currently the Potawatomi Casino Hotel in Milwaukee, the Mole Lake Casino and Lodge in Crandon and the St. Croix Casino in Danbury.
Whether the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians will be the next tribe to unveil a Wisconsin casino sportsbook remains to be seen. Other tribes have struck identical agreements with the state and have yet to open a sports gambling spot. If and when they do roll out one, it will be inside the Lake of the Torches Resort Casino. That is the lone casino they operate, and it’s located in Northern Wisconsin.
But when might the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians open their casino? Can we even answer that question? And what does this decision mean for the larger sports betting outlook in Wisconsin?
More Details on Wisconsin Sports Betting Market Approving Another Tribe to Offer Gambling Services
Here is the full lowdown on the latest Wisconsin sports betting development from Geoff Zochodne of Covers:
“A notice appeared in the April 9 edition of the Federal Register, the official journal of the U.S. government, announcing the approval of amendments to a gaming compact between the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and the state of Wisconsin. Tuesday’s announcement could be a step toward the opening of another retail sports betting site in Wisconsin. ‘The Amendment permits the Tribe to engage in event wagering and adds the Tribe’s minimum internal control standards for sports betting, including rules governing events wagering,’ the notice said. ‘[It] also makes technical changes to update and correct various provisions of the compact. The Amendment is approved.’ Several similar compact amendments have been agreed upon by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Native American tribes in the state, which only allows wagering at tribal-owned casinos and on tribal lands, such as those of the Oneida Nation.”
At this writing, no timetable is available for when a sportsbook at the Lake of the Torches Resort Casino might launch. However, the approval is a big deal by itself. It expands what is a rather narrow sports betting market in Wisconsin. Though public sports betting handle and revenue data for the Badger State isn’t available, independent studies have shown that Wisconsin is not a top sports betting market relative to other states.
Does Sports Gambling Expansion Signal a Changing of the Tide in the Badger State?
This, of course, is to be expected. While Wisconsin has the population and professional sports scene to prop up more lucrative returns, top online sportsbooks in the USA are not allowed to operate in the region. That inherently represses accessibility.
Not everyone in Wisconsin lives close enough to visit on-site sportsbooks. Moreover, the Badger State does not yet have enough brick-and-mortar locations to ensure everyone is within (reasonable) driving distance. The addition of another sportsbook in the Lake of the Torches Resort Casino could help with that.
Granted, the legalization of online sports betting in Wisconsin would help even more. As many already know, the vast majority of legal sports wagers placed in the United States get processed through a mobile betting site. Certain state officials deem the rollout of Wisconsin online sports betting as inevitable. But there currently isn’t a strong push among officials to speed up the timeline.
Could that potentially change? Perhaps. In fact, the Oneida Nation recently announced they will be launching a Wisconsin sports betting app. The site will be accessible across all tribal properties—with the exception of schools.
This may wind up being a good test case for the sustainability of sports betting apps in Wisconsin. Specifically, it will give tribal operators valuable experience and insight into the industry. And if it goes well, the Oneida Nation, along with other tribes, could be more open to letting the state open the region to some of the best online sports betting sites in the USA.
Be Wary of Accelerated Expansion in the Wisconsin Sports Betting Market
With all of this said, no one should expect the Wisconsin sports betting laws and operational landscape to dramatically change in the near future.
The state has followed a gradual timeline in basically every phase of their sports gambling development. Heck, many are surprised it has taken the lists of sportsbooks in Wisconsin so long to start growing.
We should anticipate a similar case now. How long will it take the Oneida Nation to launch a Wisconsin sports betting site? And how long will it take for a sportsbook in the Lake of the Torches Resort Casino to open? Months? Years? Even longer?
To be sure, we would expect Wisconsin to add at least two sports betting options before the end of 2024. Figuring out more aggressive expansion into other casinos is tricky. Pinpointing when Wisconsin online sports betting gets legalized is even trickier.
Still, the latest news is nothing if not proof that the Badger State’s sports gambling landscape remains nowhere near its final form. There will be tweaks and expansion in the months and, more notably, years to come.
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