On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 to strike down a federal law that required states to ban gambling on the outcome of college and professional sporting events. So now that sports betting has been legalized, will it be offered in Wisconsin?
According to Republican State Senator Roger Roth of Appleton, it's up to the tribes to decide whether they'll offer sports betting at their casinos. We reached out to the Oneida Nation on Monday and they told us they're not prepared to respond to questions just yet about whether they'll bring sports betting to their casino.
Roth told us that he believes the larger casinos in the state will eventually offer it and that's likely where sports betting will stay.
"To expand beyond tribal casinos would take a change in our state constitution, so just knowing the legislature right now, I don't think there's any desire right now to amend our state constitution to allow gaming to expand beyond the 24 tribal casinos that have it already," said Roth.
In a written statement, the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino said they're reviewing the Supreme Court ruling and added, "We are also looking at how this will specifically impact the State of Wisconsin. All decisions we make now and in the future are with the business's competitive market standing and long-term sustainability in mind."
As far as what legalized sports betting could mean for additional revenue for Wisconsin, Roth said in Las Vegas, it only accounts for about 5% of gaming revenue, so while the gaming compact agreements between the State of Wisconsin and the tribes could be amended, he doesn't believe there would be any major changes.
