The Latest Minnesota Sports Betting Update Feels All Too Familiar

Welp, go ahead and stick a fork in Minnesota sports betting hopes for this year. They’re officially done. 

After another round of hemming and hawing in the state legislature, the most recent bill seeking to legalize sports betting in Minnesota is kaput. The news is hardly surprising, given the direction talks appeared headed in before the end of legislative meetings. Optimism permeated the dialogue to start 2025, but it became clear early on that there is still too much division among policymakers.

Silver linings can typically be found in these failures. The very fact that Minnesota sports betting remains a hot-button issue shows there is real interest. But the sentiment exiting legislative sessions, which adjourned a couple of weeks ago, isn’t all that inspiring.

And frankly, when you dig into the details of what actually went wrong, it is hard not to wonder whether sports betting in The Land of 10,000 Lakes will remain stalled indefinitely.

Policymakers Can’t Even Agree on How to Research Minnesota Sports Betting

By the end of legislative sessions, the legalization of Minnesota sports betting in 2025 long ago became a pipe dream. Officials were apparently more focused on coming up with a plan of action to research the merits, pitfalls and everything in between of sports betting in the United States. And they couldn’t even agree on that.

Here is Matthew Blake of the Minnesota Post with much more:

“There are dormant issues at the State Capitol, and then, somewhere between dormant and buried underground, there is legalizing sports betting. On Tuesday, the Senate Taxes Committee rejected a proposal ‘to study, evaluate, provide recommendations and issue a report on the legalization of sports betting.’ The measure, not to legalize sports gambling but instead to study the possibility of one day maybe legalizing sports gambling, had been part of an omnibus tax spending bill. The tax bill and other critical pieces of legislation to keep the state government operating are, more or less, stalled out as Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders hold closed-door negotiations on a two-year budget bill.

Nonetheless, the Senate Taxes Committee made time to amend its bill before sending it back to the Senate floor. Committee chair Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, said legislation to legalize sports gambling was too preliminary to require the Taxes, Finance and Human Services committees to produce a study about the subject, as the provision required. “This is a year of real uncertainty about how things are going to go forward,” Rest said at the meeting. “We had a lot of ‘I don’t know but it’s a good idea’ in the bills that came before us. And of these ‘I don’t know’ proposals, sports betting ‘continues to draw the most controversy.’” 

It makes sense that sports betting is so controversial. That’s how it is everywhere.

Why Sports Gambling in Minnesota is So Controversial

Some of the controversy surrounding Minnesota sports betting comes with the territory. Many focus on the financial upsides of the industry. But there are downsides, too.

The biggest peril: upticks in problem gambling. Every market that tracks such things has reported increases in calls to problem gambling hotlines after the launch of sports betting. Beyond that, multiple studies have shown the legalization of sports betting can potentially raise debt and bankruptcy margins, while impeding saving habits. 

This is all front-of-mind in the Minnesota sports betting discussion. So many of the state’s opponents continue to emphasize the risks involved with legalization. But Minnesota's stalemate on the issue isn’t purely related to these risks.

Operational structures have become a larger roadblock seemingly with each passing year. Much like sports betting in Wisconsin, many are clamoring for tribal exclusivity over offerings. They believe it is in the spirit of current gaming compacts, which grant tribal nations exclusivity over the current available gambling options.

Still, many others want to see a more expansive setup, replete with Minnesota online sportsbooks. People on this side of the fence argue that retail sports wagering won’t do enough to capitalize on or regulate the industry. And they have a point. 

The overwhelming majority of all sports bets placed in the United States are processed through mobile sites. In many markets, this share is more like a monopoly. It is not uncommon to see 95 to 98 percent of a state’s entire sports gambling handle come from mobile betting sites.

Is the Sports Betting Discussion in Minnesota Actually Over?

With legislative sessions officially over, so too is the Minnesota sports betting discussion. Or is it?

Minnesota officials have the ability to call a special legislative session at any point. While we seldom see these for sports betting alone, these initiatives often piggyback off the momentum of larger proposals.

We saw this most recently happen with Nebraska online sports betting. The Cornhusker State called an emergency session over the summer to discuss the budget, which included a provision for sports betting, since the proceeds would go to lowering property taxes.

Lawmakers in Minnesota can follow this same blueprint. The bill to commission a sports betting study is under a more general budget umbrella. And as Blake covers above, the state legislature couldn’t even settle on the bones of that. This could lead them to call for an emergency session later this year. 

To what end that matters remains to be seen. And remember, at this point, it’s no longer about Minnesota actually legalizing sports betting. It’s about them agreeing to research the matter further. Loosely translated: Sports betting isn’t coming to Minnesota anytime soon.

Take a look at this list of the top online sportsbooks so you can find one that works for all of your sports betting needs: