Minnesota Sports Betting Outlook Revealed

A handful of state representatives recently offered insight into how the Minnesota sports betting legalization push will play out in 2026. And their sentiments prove accurate, The North Star State will be going yet another year without green lighting a bill.

This deviates from the optimism expressed roughly one year ago. So many believed that 2025 would be the year Minnesota sports betting got legalized. Instead, the proposal on the table gained little to no traction. And that stalemate has staunch opponents of sports betting in Minnesota projecting another failure in 2026.

“We have not seen [legal sports betting] happen in Minnesota yet,” Representative Erin Maye says, per CBS News’ Carolina Cummings. “And I think part of it is that the culture of sports betting is not as prevalent as it is in other states where they've legalized sports betting.” So I think we've kept this very, very predatory industry from being injected into sports in Minnesota.”

Can opponents continue to keep sports betting out of Minnesota, though? That’s the real question. The frequency with which The North Star State has discussed the matter suggests detractors will invariably fill. Minnesota sports betting is considered by many an inevitability. The popularity of online sports betting in the United States is too great. Even if certain places never legalize, The North Star State is too much of a sports hub to be among them.

From the sound of things, though, the inevitability of sports betting legalization in Minnesota does not apply to 2026.

Minnesota Sports Betting Supporters Do Not Sound Optimistic

The Minnesota state legislature is scheduled to convene Tuesday, February 17, 2026. The good news for sports betting supporters is that another bill will be on the table. It just isn’t expected to pass—or even come close to passing.

This is not just a confident sentiment being expressed by opponents of Minnesota sports betting. For the first time, its primary supporters do not sound even the slightest bit optimistic. Consider this excerpt from Cummings’ op ed on sports betting talks in The North Star State:

“Represenative Nolan West, R-Blaine, said he plans on introducing another proposal next year, but acknowledges it faces steep hurdles given the unique dynamics. ‘Everybody's really dug in on the issue so we got basically zero movement last year,’ West said. ‘I plan on attempting again, but if nobody has decided to actually enter into negotiations, of course, nothing's going to happen.’”

This does not read like someone oozing confidence. Far from it.

On top of that, Minnesota sports betting supporters are quick to acknowledge that they are facing an uphill battle with the perception of the industry.

According to a Pew Research poll, “more Americans have a negative perception of sports gambling now than they did three years ago.” Around 43 percent of respondents to the survey say they think sports betting in the United States is a “bad thing.” That is a substantial uptick from the 36 percent who said it was a bad thing in 2022.

Representative Maye and other Minnesota sports betting critics are also noting the rise in gambling scandals. Maye specifically cites recent federal investigation into NBA players and coaches that covered game manipulation and even underground rigged poker games as ammunition the state can use to keep sports betting out of the state.

The Blueprint for Legalization May Already Be Set

Through all the speculation, optimism and pessimism, the status of Minnesota sports betting seems to remain the same. The take from it: Senator Matt Klein’s bill from last session remains the most likely path to legalization.

Just to be clear, this is not necessarily a good thing. In fact, the response to his initiative in 2025 plays into the bleak outlook for legalization.

Senator Klein believed he had finally found the middle ground that satisfied supporters and anyone on the fence—from both sides of the aisle. Indeed, his framework seems to address some of the biggest concerns. It maps out a clear structure; awards sports betting exclusivity to casinos and tribes; sends a share of the revenue to horse racing tracks, so they benefit without needing independent sportsbooks; finds a way to incorporate online Minnesota sports betting apps; lays out clear tax rates and plans for the money; implemented various consumer protections other states do not have; and so much more.

On the surface, Senator Klein’s bill from last session had everything figured out. Heck, it seemed more likely to pass out of the legislative chambers than a previous initiative that actually made it out of the House. And yet, it failed. Big time.

All of which raises the question: What is preventing Minnesota sports betting from getting over the hump? Is there a specific issue stakeholders must figure out? Or does last year’s failure say more about the overarching sentiment toward sports betting in The North Star State?

We will not pretend to have the answers. Frankly, though, we are gravitating towards the latter. Multiple surveys show a large segment of the population would support legal Minnesota sports betting. Clearly, however, state legislators are not in majority agreement. If anything, the lesson here is that sports betting in Minnesota was always further away than we thought. And nothing appears to have changed now.

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