A pair of conservative organizations in Wisconsin are taking legal action against state officials, including Gov. Tony Evers, to block tribal online sports betting in the state.
According to court documents filed in the Wisconsin Circuit Court of Waukesha County on Aug. 5, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) is suing Evers, Wisconsin Division of Gaming Administrator John Dillett, and others on behalf of the Brown County Taxpayers Association and Citizens Defending Liberty to prevent Wisconsin from enacting online sports in the state.
WILL is taking legal action against Evers after the governor signed an online sports betting bill in April 2026 that provides federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin with full control of the vertical through their gaming compacts in the Badger State. The conservative nonprofit law firm argues that the online wagering bill violates a constitutional amendment that prevents the state legislature from authorizing gambling in any form in the state except for bingo, state-licensed raffles, pari-mutuel on-track betting, and the Wisconsin Lottery.
“These statutory changes in Act 247 violate the Wisconsin Constitution’s unequivocal restriction on the legislature’s ability to authorize gambling,” reads the complaint.
WILL also argues that Wisconsin’s tribe-focused online sports betting bill creates a monopoly for tribes as “the act also creates a benefit for some—not all—which it distributes based on membership in an Indian tribe, i.e., based upon race,” reads the suit.
“This violates the United States Constitution’s Guarantee of Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.”
WILL supports its claims against the availability of online sports betting in Wisconsin by providing data from Marquette University Law School that indicates that 64% of respondents from a recent poll oppose the legalization of online sports betting.
How will online betting be structured in Wisconsin?
Evers signed Assembly Bill 601 in April after the Wisconsin Senate passed the legislation by a 21-12 vote in March through a voice vote. Legislators advanced the measure despite opposition to tribes having exclusive rights to online wagering in the state.
Under AB 601, Wisconsin’s online sports betting market mirrors Florida with its “hub-and-spoke” framework that provides access to online wagering through gaming servers located on tribal lands. In Florida, the Seminole Tribe is required to host gaming servers to deliver online wagering to people across the state.
Wisconsin tribes will be required to update gaming compacts with the state to facilitate online wagering, with the updates requiring approval by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. WILL notes the structure of Wisconsin’s forthcoming online sports betting market in its suit by acknowledging that gaming compacts will need to be renegotiated for state tribes.
“Further, any amendments to existing state-tribal compacts designed to carry out this law—as Governor Evers is contemplating—would be ultra vires,” continues the complaint.
The complaint uses ultra vires as a reference to amendments to gaming compacts in the state being “beyond the powers” of state law and procedures.
AB 601 also details the tax structure for online sports betting in Wisconsin:
- Tribes are required to keep 60% of revenue generated from online wagering
- The structure received pushback from FanDuel and DraftKings
- The operators have said that the framework would not work for them
What is WILL seeking in its lawsuit?
WILL is requesting that the court declare Wisconsin tribal online sports betting bill as unconstitutional. The law firm also wants to prevent Evers from implementing the new gambling bill through tribal gaming compacts. WILL also wants to prevent state officials from authorizing or administering mobile sports betting.
In addition to Evers and Dillett, Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary of the State Kathy Blumenfeld and Office of Indian Gaming and Regulatory Compliance Indian Gaming Audit Director Jessie Dushek are also named in the suit.
