Minnesota entered 2025 looking like one of the most likely bets as a potential new legal sports wagering state this year. But it won’t be happening.
The state legislature adjourned for the year without passing a bill to authorize or even further explore bringing online sports wagering to the state. While lawmakers will reconvene for a special session to refine and finish the budget, anyone hanging on for a lifeline for sports betting will likely be disappointed.
Several lawmakers filed bills this year, such as Sen. Matt Klein’s Senate Bill 757, Sen. Nick Frentz’s Senate Bill 3414 and Sen. Jeremy Miller’s Minnesota Sports Betting Act 3.0.
None of those proposals got beyond the committee stage in the chamber.
Minnesota not ready to even study sports betting, argues chair
Another proposal would have set up the state to study the potential effects of legalizing sports betting and provide recommendations and an official report to the state.
However, at a recent Senate Committee on Taxes meeting discussing a broader omnibus tax bill, lawmakers rejected the proposal. Chair Sen. Ann Rest argued that the state simply is not ready to take that preliminary step, and the chamber ultimately passed an A20 amendment to remove that study from the bill.
“The sports betting one continues to draw the most controversy,” Rest noted. “That controversy continues and has led to conversations here among our committee members, and that’s the reason why we have the A20 amendment.”
Klein, who is Rest’s vice-chair, countered that by refusing to even study sports betting, the Senate is “abandoning” residents by failing to protect them.
“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,” he told the room. “We are refusing to move forward even with a study to find out if we can make it safer and more profitable to start to move forward with this.”
Sen. Klein felt he had found perfect solution
Klein also warned that the state is similarly abandoning the state’s tribes, whom he says have made legal sports wagering their top priority to provide essential funds and support for their communities.
Earlier this session, Klein said that he felt confident that his bill had resolved issues left over from last year by making changes, such as allowing all 11 sovereign state tribes to partner with an online sportsbook and DFS operator.
He posited that no other Minnesota sports betting bill had such a variety and strength of support. He said his proposal was backed by all tribes, both racetracks, all Minnesota sports teams, charitable gaming operators, the majority of the public in polling and opposing political parties.
Klein also positioned SF 757 as “the safest sports wagering bill in the nation” due to its focus on safeguards and player protection. But it met stern pushback from lawmakers as soon as it hit committee stage, with the most common arguments against the various proposals being rooted in concerns over the potential of social and financial harms to players.
“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 the Minnesotans whom we represent is deeply disappointing,” added Klein in the recent hearing.
