Lawsuit Filed Against Wisconsin Sports Betting Law

Wisconsin sports betting has been legal since April, but it hasn’t come online yet in the state. A political group now has a lawsuit filed to try to keep it from ever getting there.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), a conservative think-tank, has filed suit against Gov. Tony Evers to try to block Assembly Bill 601, which legalized online sports betting in Wisconsin. According to the lawsuit, the law violates the state constitution, which said in a 1993 that the legislature cannot expand gambling in the state in any form.

The suit seeks to block the implementation of online Wisconsin sports betting. It also wishes to establish that Evers and his government do not have the authority to renegotiate gaming compacts with Wisconsin’s 11 tribes.

What Are The Facts Regarding Wisconsin Sports Betting?

Because of both the state constitution and Wisconsin’s large tribal population, any expansion of gambling in Wisconsin had to go through the state’s tribes. Evers made clear when he signed the law that he wanted to make sure all of the tribes were treated fairly in bringing sports betting to Wisconsin.

That comes by granting tribes the right to either partner with different sportsbooks or use their own proprietary apps. The one hard-and-fast rule is that all servers must originate on tribal lands. A similar model exists in Florida, although that state grants a monopoly to the Seminole Tribe.

Wisconsin has 11 tribes that Evers wants to grant opportunities to with sports betting. Two, the Oneida Nation and the Potawatomi Nation, have their own sportsbook apps. However, the apps currently only allow gambling on tribal land.

Which Side Is Likely To Prevail?

Based on what happened in Florida, the state seems the likelier to win. In 2018, Florida voters amended their constitution to only permit gambling via an additional constitutional amendment.

But legal sports betting came to the Sunshine State anyway when Gov. Ron DeSantis updated the compacts with the Seminole Tribe in 2021, granting it the right to offer sports betting statewide through servers on Seminole lands.

The Florida model served as the same model for Wisconsin’s setup. The Badger State isn’t operational yet for its sports betting models. With multiple tribes and sportsbooks involved, it is far more complex than Florida’s model, though it operates the same way.

For the plaintiffs to win, they must establish that Wisconsin’s anti-gambling laws are different from Florida’s. In 2025, a Florida judge dismissed a similar lawsuit against the Seminole Tribe’s sports betting setup.

What’s Next To Watch?

Per the lawsuit, Evers and attorney general Kathy Blumenfeld have 45 days to respond to the lawsuit. As Wisconsin sports betting isn’t yet available online, there’s currently nothing that needs to shut down.

If it comes online, sports betting in the Badger State would remain legal unless WILL can secure an injunction. For that to happen, it must show both genuine harm and a likelihood of success on the merits.

The lawsuit likely ensures that Wisconsinites won’t be able to bet on the Green Bay Packers for the 2026 NFL season. That was a longshot anyway, but with uncertainty in place, it’s likely that work pauses on setting up the servers until a decision comes. That could push legal Wisconsin online sports betting to a 2027 launch date.