Minnesota online sports betting laws

Ever since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was struck down by the US Supreme Court in 2018, there have been suggestions that Minnesota sports betting should be legalized.

That’s hardly surprising in a state with only five million residents but with a well-supported pro team at the top level of all big four sports. However, all attempts at legalization have come up against the implacable barrier of the 11 Native American tribes who run the 19 casinos in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

The tribes fear the prospect of Minnesota online betting, believing it will harm their business. John McCarthy, executive director of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association , said in January 2021 that its members “remain opposed to any and all expansion of off-reservation gambling”.

Unless legislators can convince the tribes that Minnesota online sports betting will not eat into their profits, their stance represents a significant barrier to legalization.

Despite the long-standing obstacles to legal Minnesota sports betting, legislators launched a couple of bills in that direction in January 2021. Senator Karla Bigham, who was behind one of those bills, said her objective was “to keep people at the table and talking”.

Bigham’s bill attempts to appease the tribes by allowing solely retail betting on licensed premises – such as the casinos – for the first year. It would also insist on in-person registration for remote gambling. Bills to legalize and regulate sports betting, however, failed to gain any traction before the state legislature adjourned Sine Die in the spring of 2021. This means that the state won’t see sports betting introduced in 2021, and will have to wait for the 2022 legislature for potential action.

It will be very surprising if legislators do not try again to come to a compromise with the tribes. The state could be missing out on up to $40million a year in tax revenue .

Sen. Bigham is known to be a keen fan of wagering. As she said: “Sports wagering is flagrantly done publicly by myself and others but it is not legal. So why criminalize it?

“Let’s shine some light on it, let’s put some parameters around it and if the state makes a buck or two along the way, good for us.”

Despite their historic power, the tribes are sure to come under pressure from legislators and from sports fans in the state to allow Minnesota online betting in some form sooner rather than later.