Eight Wisconsin tribes join defence of mobile sports betting law
Regulation2 min read
Eight Wisconsin tribal nations joined the defence of a lawsuit challenging the state’s mobile sports betting framework on 9 November 2026. A Waukesha County judge allowed the tribes to intervene as defendants over 2025 Wisconsin Act 247, which authorises online wagering through tribal gaming agreements. An amended complaint is due by 11 December, with oral arguments scheduled for 20 April 2027.
Eight tribal nations in Wisconsin have joined the defence against a challenge to a state law that could permit mobile sports betting statewide through tribal compacts. The court record shows that Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Arthur Melvin III granted their intervention on Nov. 9. Neither side opposed their intervention in Brown County Taxpayers Association v. Evers.
The tribes join state officials as defendants in the case, which seeks to block 2025 Wisconsin Act 247. The law, signed in April 2026, authorises a framework for online sports wagering through tribal gaming agreements.
The tribes are the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Forest County Potawatomi Community, Ho-Chunk Nation, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Oneida Nation, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Sokaogon Chippewa Community and Stockbridge-Munsee Community.
Acting for Citizens Defending Liberty and the Brown County Taxpayers Association, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed the lawsuit on 5 August. In their complaint, the plaintiffs say the measure illegally broadens gambling in Wisconsin, where a 1993 constitutional amendment restricts most forms of it. They also claim that confining mobile sports wagering to tribal compact operations gives an exclusive benefit based on tribal membership.
According to trade publication RG.org, tribal attorneys say the case should be dismissed because the compacts reflect relationships between sovereign governments, rather than racial classifications.
The court set 11 December as the deadline for an amended complaint. The case is set for oral arguments on 20 April 2027.