Minnesota House Approves Sports-Betting Bill

May 13, 2022
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​​​​​​​The Minnesota House of Representatives passed legislation that would legalize sports betting in the state Thursday night, but even House legislators acknowledged the bill is not likely to clear the Senate.

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The Minnesota House of Representatives passed legislation that would legalize sports betting in the state Thursday night (May 12), but even House legislators acknowledged the bill is not likely to clear the Senate.

The House approved an amended version of House File 778 that would have seen Minnesota’s 11 Indian tribes control both land-based and mobile sports betting, with land-based licenses available for tribal casinos and mobile betting operated by the tribes and contracted platform providers.

The bill includes a 10 percent tax rate on online wagering net revenue and is the first sports-betting bill to clear either chamber of Minnesota’s legislature, despite several attempts in recent years.

However, House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt said that although the sports betting issue is not dead, with two weeks remaining in the session this bill will not be the instrument that gets it across the finish line.

“This bill is dead, pass, don’t pass, doesn’t matter today,” Daudt said on the House floor Thursday. “The Senate has already vocally said a couple of times that they’re not going to pass their bill and send this into conference committee.”

“Doesn’t mean this issue is dead for the session, it just means that this as a vehicle isn’t the way we’re going to sports betting done this year.”

Senate versions of the bill have taken the issue outside full tribal control, with licensing for in-person betting at state racetracks, and Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller said earlier this week that is one of the key differences holding the issue up in the Senate.

"If the stakeholders can come together and try to find some common ground where there are opportunities available at the tribal casinos as well as the tracks, and perhaps if there's something we can do to help benefit our charities, I think agreement could still get done this session," Miller said, according to the Star Tribune. "But we're running out of time for that to happen."

Before the bill passed the House Thursday, legislators added a host of new problem gambling restrictions to the bill, including some that would be far stricter than those seen in other U.S. jurisdictions.

The amended bill includes a three-hour waiting period before money deposited in an online sports wagering account, as well as a prohibition on mobile operators sending push notifications to mobile devices.

An amendment that would have required in-person deposits and withdrawals at a tribal casino, however, was not approved by the House.

Minnesota’s session is scheduled to adjourn May 23.

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