Event wagering is slowly blooming in the Badger State, as the legal groundwork has now been laid for another tribal casino to offer sports betting in Wisconsin.
A notice in the November 17 edition of the Federal Register, the official journal of the U.S. federal government, announced the approval of an amendment to a compact between the Sokaogon Chippewa Community and the state of Wisconsin.
That refreshed agreement, which took effect on November 17, allows for legal sports betting.
“The Amendment permits the Tribe to engage in on-reservation remote and retail event wagering consistent with the Tribe's minimum internal control standards and rules of play agreed to by the State and the Tribe,” the notice said.
Super Bowl ready
With the amendment in place, that means another federally recognized Native American tribe in Wisconsin is in line to offer sports betting in person and via online sports betting sites, albeit sites that will only work in certain places in the state. The Sokaogon Chippewa tribe owns and operates the Mole Lake Casino and Lodge, which seems like a logical spot for a brick-and-mortar sportsbook at some point.
A press release announcing the agreement in September said it would “open the door for the Sokaogon Chippewa Community to begin offering sports betting and other forms of event wagering at its existing Mole Lake Casino & Lodge and mobile wagering on other land within its reservation just in time for the Super Bowl and college bowl games.”
While statewide mobile sports betting may not yet be in the cards for Wisconsinites, the Midwest state is being surrounded by peers that are allowing such wagering, such as Iowa and Illinois. Lawmakers in nearby Minnesota have taken multiple runs at legalizing sports betting as well and may do so again in 2023.
In the meantime, though, Wisconsinites are slowly getting more and more options for retail sports betting and for mobile wagering while on a tribe’s lands. The Sokaogon agreement is one of several that has been struck over the past two years between the tribes and Gov. Tony Evers, who recently won reelection.
The amended Sokaogon compact was announced on September 30, and the agreement was forwarded to the U.S. Department of the Interior for a 45-day review and, ultimately, its approval.
“This amendment will generate additional revenue for the Tribe and our state, bolster local tourism, and support jobs in Northern Wisconsin—and that’s a win-win for everyone,” Evers said in a press release.
Signing on for sports betting
The agreement is similar to deals with the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, the Oneida Nation, the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, the Forest County Potawatomi tribe, and the Menominee tribe. Wisconsin has 11 federally recognized tribes, so there is room for further agreements as well.
It’s unclear when exactly wagering will begin at Mole Lake Casino, but oversight of betting there will fall to an arm of Wisconsin’s Department of Administration (DOA).
“It is our shared interests that help make these negotiations so successful for the Tribe and the state,” DOA Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld said in the Sept. 30 release. “We look forward to continuing our cooperative relationship with the Sokaogon Chippewa Community.”
