Potawatomi Tribe Adds Sports Betting to Its Gaming Compact

The Forest County Potawatomi Community is the latest Wisconsin tribe to renegotiate its gaming compact with the state.

The federally recognized tribe, through its chairman Ned Daniels Jr., announced on Friday that it had signed a new agreement that would allow it to offer sports betting at its establishments. The tribal nation owns two casinos in the state; Potawatomi Carter Casino Hotel in Wabeno, Forest County, and the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino in Milwaukee.

In the statement, the tribe revealed that the sportsbook at the Milwaukee-based facility would open before the end of the year, but it did not say when the Carter casino would start accepting sports bets.

Besides allowing the Forest County Potawatomi Community to add event wagering to its casinos, the agreement with Governor Tony Evers also extends the tribe’s gaming compact with the state to 2061.

However, the tribe must receive clearance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is constituted under the Federal Department of the Interior, before launching the sportsbooks. The agency is supposed to act on the renegotiated compact within 45 days of receiving it.

Chairman Daniels thanks Gov. Evers’s administration

In a statement about the new agreement, the Chairman of the Forest County Potawatomi Community Ned Daniels Jr. thanked Governor Evers and his office for their input and cooperation throughout the negotiation process.

He further said that the addition of the new market to the tribe’s offering would equip it with the tools it needed to compete effectively in the state’s market.

‘’We appreciate Governor Evers and his administration working with us in a government-to-government manner to provide our tribe the tools needed to compete in the marketplace and giving us the business certainty to continue our investments in Milwaukee and throughout the state,’’ said Daniels.

In his comments, Governor Evers said:

‘’I am glad for the good work of Chairman Daniels, the Forest County Potawatomi, and the folks at the Department of Administration to get this done so folks can enjoy sports and other event wagering in our state while benefiting the Tribe’s economic growth.’’

The Potawatomi Forest County Community is the third Wisconsin tribe to sign a compact amendment with Gov. Evers’s administration. The two tribes that have signed similar agreements with the governor are the Oneida Tribe of Indians and St. Croix Chippewa Indians.

State of sports betting in Wisconsin

The Badger State took the first step towards legalizing sports betting in July last year when Gov. Evers signed a compact amendment with the Oneida Nation.

The deal not only paved the way for the Oneida Nation to expand gaming at its casinos and affiliate facilities to include event wagering, but it also marked the first sports betting agreement between a Wisconsin gaming tribe and the state’s Department of Administration.

The jurisdiction currently limits sports betting to on-site wagering at gaming establishments owned by the state’s 11 federally recognized tribes. The tribes operate 26 gambling facilities across the precinct.

Wisconsin’s first sportsbook opened on November 30 at the Oneida Casino in Green Bay. The facility allows bettors to place wagers on several sports, but it does not offer bets on in-state college athletics events or competitions where the participants are under 19 years of age. In addition to the Oneida Casino sportsbook, the Oneida Nation also plans to add the offering to its other casinos across the state.

The St. Croix Chippewa Indians also signed a revised compact with Governor Evers in December, allowing it to add the market to its offering. The tribe, however, is yet to start offering sports betting at its three casinos in Webster, Danbury, and Turtle Lake.