Sports
Wisconsin governor signs second sports betting agreement
Wisconsin is on its way to a second sportsbook.
Gov. Tony Evers on Monday announced an agreement with the St. Croix Chippewa Indians to allow the tribe to open a new sports betting facility at its casino in Turtle Lake.
“Event wagering will bring new opportunities for employment and revenue growth to the Tribe and provide a welcome boost to our recovering tourism and entertainment industries,” the governor said in a statement.
“The addition of sports wagering at the St. Croix Casinos will give our tribe the ability to give our customers the most comprehensive gaming experience in the state of Wisconsin,” said tribal Chairman William Reynolds.
The Turtle Lake Casino is in the far northwestern corner of Wisconsin, but is about an hour-and-a-half from Minneapolis.
There will next be a 45-day review by the U.S. Department of Interior. But that review is expected to be approved.
The St. Croix Tribal Council approved the new agreement at the end of November, and the tribe says it has already begun work on the new sportsbook.
The sports betting agreement with the St. Croix Chippewa comes after Gov. Evers signed a similar deal with the Oneida Nation back in July to open a sportsbook at its casino near Green Bay.
That sportsbook opened November 1.
The agreement with the St. Croix Chippewa also raises questions about or when the governor will sign a sports betting agreement with the Forest County Potawatomi Community to open a sportsbook at its casino in Milwaukee.
Potawatomi’s CEO/General Manager Dominic Ortiz told a Milwaukee radio station back in October that it shouldn’t be long.
“We are running 110% in that direction,” Ortiz said at the time.
Ortiz explained that the Potawatomi Casino needed to fully reopen first. Table games and in-person dealers returned just last month, but some of the casino’s restaurants remain closed.
There are nearly two dozen casinos in Wisconsin, all of them run by the tribes. Each tribe has its own agreement with the state, so each sportsbook in the state will require its own new agreement.
This article was originally posted on Wisconsin governor signs second sports betting agreement
