Wisconsin stands to lose money on this

Beyond the monopoly problem, the current bills bypass the benefits free-market online sports betting can bring to states. In other states, competitive frameworks have strengthened local economies and generated tens of millions in revenue. Instead, Wisconsin could lose an estimated $400 million over the next five years because the legislation attempts to skirt our constitutional limits rather than address them directly.

Most importantly, as the former Attorney General of Wisconsin, I join the people of Wisconsin who have real concerns about the constitutionality of this plan. Legislators should never endorse or attempt to undermine Wisconsin’s Constitution, the foundation of our state. Article IV, Section 24 of the Wisconsin Constitution broadly prohibits the Legislature from authorizing gambling outside specific, voter-approved exceptions. The people of Wisconsin have repeatedly reaffirmed this principle through amendments over decades, making clear decisions of this magnitude rest with the voters, not the Legislature or the governor.

Wisconsin has seen the consequences of concentrated authority before. In the 1990s and 2000s, the state granted Democratic governor Jim Doyle broad authority to reopen and amend tribal gaming compacts. These decisions ultimately created perpetual privileges for tribes and limited the state’s ability to regulate gaming in line with constitutional and public interests. Later court rulings upheld some expansions despite weak legal grounds, leaving Wisconsin with a system that prioritizes a single party’s contractual interests over the people’s sovereign will.

Legislators seem ready to repeat mistakes

Today, legislators appear ready to repeat that mistake by relying on unsettled legal comparisons, such as Florida’s compact litigation, to justify extending tribal betting privileges statewide. But Florida’s situation is not Wisconsin’s. Using it as cover to bypass our own constitutional limits is legislative overreach, plain and simple.

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The push to legalize online sports betting nationally has grown, but the stakes in Wisconsin are too high to get this wrong. The numbers don’t lie, the voters want a say in this matter. This backroom deal being dealt in Madison is bad news. The first rule of gambling is remembering the house always wins. In this case, the “house” should be the people of Wisconsin, and the state must ensure it remains in control of its own policy.

JB Van Hollen is the former Attorney General of Wisconsin.