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Hope seems faint for Minnesota to legalize sports betting this year, as lawmakers have refused to approve a study on the possibility. The intent of the study would have been to “evaluate, provide recommendations, and issue a report on the legalization of sports betting, fantasy sports, or both,” according to the first draft of the Senate’s budget bill, before that section was axed.
The decision to amend the study out of the budget bill sparked frustration from committee member Sen. Matt Klein. He bemoaned the state’s lack of progress on sports betting at the committee’s May 8 meeting.
“I don’t think sports wagering is necessarily over this year, but the fact that we in the taxes committee cannot take a stand on a study to at least consider it and leave it before the thoughts of Minnesotans whom we represent is deeply disappointing,” he said.
Resistance to investigating the likely impacts of sports betting suggests that the legislature holds a deeper opposition to gambling in general. Some types of objections can be overcome by studying the issue, but a refusal to have that conversation bodes poorly for the chances of any sort of gambling in the coming years, be that sports betting, casinos, or anything else.
Stymied gambling expansion comes with multiple costs
Gaming in the U.S. has exploded over the past seven years thanks to a landmark change to sports betting laws in 2018. Currently, 47 states have some form of legal gaming, and 40 of those have legal sports betting, according to the American Gaming Association.
online sweepstakes casinos. The tribal casinos can offer slots but are limited to blackjack as the only permitted table game.
Minnesotans at mercy of illegal gambling sites
That being said, blocking sports betting progress causes several issues, Klein said. First, residents in the state want access to legal sports betting, he said. With it, they’re left to use offshore sites that present several dangers.
“Once again this year, we are going to abandon Minnesotans who feel they have a legitimate right to sports wager on their mobile devices and are doing so already in abundant numbers and are doing so on platforms that are unregulated, unsafe and predatory,” Klein said.
Lost tax revenue from $2.4 billion illegal gambling revenue
The financial angle that Klein brought up is worth considering, not just for the tribes in the state but for all Minnesotans. A 2023 study from the Council for Fairer Gambling and YieldSec identified 860 illegal online betting operators in the state, generating more than $2.4 billion in gross gaming revenue.
Capturing that revenue would lead to millions in tax revenue for the state and 11 tribes if mobile sports betting was legalized and available via tribal and non-tribal sportsbooks.
Tribes miss out on critical funds
The 11 federally recognized tribes in Minnesota are missing out on additional revenue that can improve the lives of their people, Klein said.
“We are once again this year abandoning the … 11 sovereign nations of this state who have declared to us this is their top priority and for whom these proceeds are essential for healthcare, education, housing and the sustenance of their ,” he said.
