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Some tribal leaders are supporting a proposed bill that could expand sports betting in Wisconsin, as Chuck Quirmbach reports.
About three dozen states allow some form of sports betting, but in Wisconsin, the only legal way to place a wager on a sporting event is at some tribal casinos.
Proposed legislation would allow Wisconsin tribes to operate computer servers and other technology, so that sports gamblers could be anywhere in the state and place a bet online.
Attorney General Jeff Crawford of the Forest County Potawatomi testifies at a Wisconsin legislative hearing November 4, 2025.
Jeff Crawford is Attorney General of the Forest County Potawatomi. He told a legislative hearing that allowing tribes to offer more sports betting would encourage gamblers to turn away from using illegal and unreliable, off-shore betting firms.
“While online gaming is currently the Wild West in Wisconsin, with no regulations or protections for consumers, it does not have to be.”
Kyle White Eagle is a tribal legislator for the Ho-Chunk Nation. He says his tribe provides a lot of services across a wide geographic area and needs additional gaming revenue to better tackle problems like poverty and opioid addiction.
“Giving tribes in Wisconsin the right to conduct mobile sports betting isn’t going to solve these problems completely, but it will help significantly and it will be funding well spent.”
But a coalition of national commercial sports gambling firms, including Draft Kings and FanDuel, opposes the Wisconsin bill.
Attorney Damon Stewart of the Sports Betting Alliance says gamblers would lose out if, legally, they could only go through the tribes.
“Unfortunately, this bill would not result in a competitive market for sports betting that provides consumers with choice.”
If the mobile sports betting bill passes in Wisconsin, it would still take time for the state to renegotiate gaming compacts with the tribes, and for the U.S. Interior Department to approve the gaming expansion.
An Arizona tribe is giving its members some financial relief, as the federal government shutdown continues impacting programs like food assistance.
KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more.
The Gila River Indian Community is calling them general welfare payments – one-time $1,000 disbursements for each 18-year-old tribal member regardless of whether they’re a SNAP recipient. That decision came on Saturday during a special council session called by Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis.
“We want to make sure that, as a sovereign nation, we take care of our members during this unprecedented shutdown. I hope that this payment brings some peace of mind during this time of uncertainty at the federal level.”
Lewis urges his tribe, south of Phoenix, to plan for the long haul.
“So please, use or set aside for your food needs, to pay bills and to add some measure of economic security.”
Lumbee Chairman John Lowery testifying before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on November 5, 2025.
The chairman of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina says he’s confident that this year, full services and benefits will be extended to his tribe.
Chairman John Lowery made the remarks Wednesday during a legislative hearing on the Lumbee Fairness Act, which would grant the tribe federal recognition.
Lowery says his tribe has long sought federal status.
“I’m a descendant of Solomon Locklear, Sr. one of the 44 tribal leaders who in 1888 petitioned Congress to recognize the Lumbee Tribe … today, 137 years later, I stand before you once again to advocate for justice and equal treatment through full federal recognition.”
Wednesday’s hearing in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs also included opposition.
Leaders from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina and the Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma testifying against the bill.
While Lowery submitted a list of tribal support, and testified that nearly all of North Carolina’s Congressional delegation backs the bill.
President Donald Trump, in a statement this week, issued his support of the Lumbee Tribe.
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