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Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has signed a bill that will permit online sports betting throughout out the state.
He did so in the final hours before a looming deadline.
The new law requires the state's 11 tribes to renegotiate gaming compacts to offer mobile wagering.
Evers has urged the tribes to create a unified plan that ensures benefits are shared equally among them.
The legislation allows bets placed anywhere in Wisconsin as long as the server processing the wager is on tribal land.
Evers had been on the fence about signing the bill as some tribes still opposed it.
In a message approving the bill, Evers said his "obligation as governor is always to respect the sovereignty of Tribal Nations in Wisconsin."
"Most importantly, this means respecting every Tribal Nation's right to do what is best for its people. I do so today as I always promised I would, but I am not without reservations about signing this bill," Evers wrote.
"This legislation is the beginning of a conversation, not the end of one. The real work begins today. Each of the 11 Tribes must now work diligently – and together – to shape the future of sports betting in Wisconsin," Evers wrote.
"What I will not accept is a plan that fractures this opportunity into unequal pieces, allowing some Tribes to reap great benefits while leaving only crumbs for others," he wrote. "An approach that exacerbates long-standing inequalities among Tribal Nations is not good for Wisconsinites or Wisconsin. I will not entertain it as governor."
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
