Despite talk of a late compromise, Minnesota sports betting has failed to pass in the current legislative session.
The Minnesota House Ways and Means Committee approved a move to bring the language of HF2000 – which covers sports betting – into bill HF5274 which places an outright ban on historical horse race wagering machines. The late date of the approval meant that lawmakers had only 6 legislative days to pass the bill.
However, according to a the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Zack Stephenson, there is no time to discuss or vote on the bill.
In a tweet Stephenson said:
“We’re going to come up just short on the sports betting bill this year. But in the last few days we proved that we could find a deal that all the major stakeholders could live with. Tribes, tracks, charities… That’s meaningful progress that can be a foundation for the future.”
One of the main points of contention with Stephenson’s bill was that it allocated revenue from sports betting to state race tracks. However, the tracks wanted sports betting licenses. The Minnesota Horse Racing Commission then made the decision to allow historical horse race wagering machines (HHR) at the tracks, a move the state tribes objected to.
As a result, Stephenson then introduced his bill to ban HHR machines. The House passed this bill on Friday by a vote of 71-58, while the Senate approved it on Saturday by a vote of 36-25.
While the state’s tribes and horse racing tracks had evidently worked on a compromise deal in recent weeks, there has been no time to fully approve sports betting. This is in large part due to Democrats and Republicans clashing over several unrelated bills.
If Stephenson is re-elected in November, it’s highly likely that sports betting will be discussed in early 2025.
An experienced iGaming commentator and analyst based in New York City – Jenny reports on regulation and gambling industry news and events.
After months of debate and negotiation, time has officially run out on Minnesota sports betting legislation for the current legislative session. Despite strong support from both lawmakers and the public, the bill failed to make it through the necessary committees before the deadline.
The proposed legislation would have legalized sports betting in the state, allowing residents to place bets on professional and collegiate sports games. Proponents of the bill argued that legalizing sports betting would generate much-needed revenue for the state and provide a safe and regulated alternative to illegal gambling operations.
However, opponents raised concerns about the potential negative impacts of legalized sports betting, including an increase in problem gambling and the potential for corruption in sports. These concerns ultimately led to the bill stalling in committee and failing to advance to a full vote in the legislature.
Despite this setback, supporters of sports betting in Minnesota remain hopeful that the issue will be revisited in future legislative sessions. With neighboring states like Iowa and Wisconsin already legalizing sports betting, there is growing pressure for Minnesota to follow suit in order to remain competitive in the rapidly expanding industry.
In the meantime, residents of Minnesota will have to continue to travel to neighboring states or use illegal online betting sites if they wish to place bets on their favorite sports teams. While this may be a temporary inconvenience, many are hopeful that legal sports betting will eventually come to Minnesota and provide a safe and regulated option for sports fans to enjoy.
