The potential legalization of sports betting is set to get early attention at the Minnesota capitol in 2025, with state lawmakers preparing to discuss the issue this month. While the legislative session starts January 14, Senator John Marty is set to hold an informational hearing on online betting the week before.
The hearing is set to feature experts on gambling addiction, an issue that has raised alarms among some lawmakers. However, Sen. Matt Klein, the author of the bill to legalize sports betting in the state, says his proposal does include some protections.
“There are people, Democrats, who are really concerned about gambling addiction, and family bankruptcy and devastation,” Klein said, as per KFGO. “I’ve put some real safeguards in the bill to try and answer those concerns. If we pass the bill as I’ve introduced it, it will be the safest sports wagering bill in the nation.”
The Senator confirmed that, after coming so close to passing the bill last session, he plans to introduce it again on the first day of the new session. Klein says Minnesota needs a sports betting bill because state residents are already gambling in other ways.
“The argument I always make is that people are already doing it in illegal and unregulated markets, usually offshore markets,” Klein added. “That’s only going to increase. If we want a responsible and safe and taxable sports wagering process in Minnesota, we need to pass a bill.”
States have been allowed to regulate sports betting since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 declared that Congress did not have the sole authority to regulate the form of gambling. Since then, 38 states and the District of Columbia — including every state that borders Minnesota — have legalized some form of sports betting.
Klein says the biggest hurdle to passing a sports betting bill is opposition from both Democrats and Republicans. There has also been lobbying against the bill from organizations such as the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, which in late 2024 distributed a letter to lawmakers opposing the expansion of gambling.
The bill discussed during the 2024 session sought to grant the state’s casino tribes exclusive control of the new betting while helping smaller tribes not as well positioned. In exchange for this benefit, the tribes would agree to put some state revenue into the tracks and charitable gambling.
The 22% state tax on net winnings would apply only to mobile betting, not bets placed in physical tribal casinos, though most betting action in the United States is mobile, not brick and mortar.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2025/01/02/90484-minnesota-lawmakers-to-renew-push-for-legal-sports-betting-this-month
