Minnesota Fails to Legalize Sports Betting in 2024
Despite a final push, efforts to legalize sports betting in Minnesota fell short as the 2024 legislative session concluded. Representative Zack Stephenson, who led the initiative, acknowledged the setback late Sunday night, but highlighted the progress made in gaining support from various stakeholders, including tribes, racetracks, and charities.
“We’re going to come up just short on the sports betting bill this year,” Stephenson posted on social media. “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.”
Impact on Minnesota Bettors
Stephenson’s bill, introduced earlier this year, aimed to grant exclusive online sports betting licenses to the state’s 11 tribes, with a proposed tax rate of 20% on sports betting.
The legal betting age would have been set at 21. Despite gaining traction and uniting various stakeholders, the bill did not pass, leaving Minnesota residents without legal betting options for the foreseeable future.
The failure to legalize sports betting means that Minnesota bettors will not have access to legal betting apps for the upcoming NFL season and likely next year’s NBA season as well.
Even if lawmakers manage to pass a sports betting bill in 2024, the process from legalization to the launch of betting apps typically takes several months.
Broader Context
While the sports betting bill did not pass, another related piece of legislation sponsored by Stephenson did succeed. This bill explicitly prohibits historical horse racing at state tracks, ensuring that such gaming activities remain regulated.
Minnesota’s failure to legalize sports betting mirrors a broader trend in the US, with several states also struggling to pass similar legislation this year. Missouri and Washington, DC are the only two jurisdictions still holding out hope for legalization in 2024.
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