Minnesota Sports Betting Runs into Brick Wall in 2025

Any hope that the Land of 10,000 Lakes would legalize sports betting in 2025 died on Monday.

The Minnesota legislative session ended on Monday, as two sports betting bills were being debated in committees. Industry proponents hoped these bills would break through legislative deadlock, but neither came close. The failure sent lawmakers home, giving sports betting supporters time to figure out what went wrong.

While one of the proposed bills would have legalized the industry, the other would have simply authorized a study on the potential impact of a legal market. Opponents who helped reject this option said that sports betting is still far off, and therefore, a study would waste the state's time and resources.

Minnesota Senator Matt Klein, who has led the effort to legalize sports betting, expressed his frustration during the Taxes Committee's discussion of the bill. He believed lawmakers were abandoning residents and tribes that wanted to participate in the industry.

“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 on platforms that are unregulated, unsafe, and predatory,” Klein said.

Multiple Hurdles Remain Ahead

Hopes were high for the 2025 effort to legalize sports betting because of an agreement between the state’s 11 tribes and commercial operators. Klein’s 2025 bill was supposed to serve as a compromise for the two sides, but it wasn’t enough to win over support from opponents.

The other significant hurdle for the industry to overcome is the fear of problem gambling. Lawmakers have hosted hearings to discuss the negative impacts that legal gambling has on residents and the devastating consequences that often follow. Given the size and strength of the opposition in 2025, it seems these hearings are having the intended impact.

Now, proponents will need to reach once again a deal with the tribes and other potential operators, as well as come up with new ways to address problem gambling.