Last weekend, the Minnesota Senate did not pass a law on sports betting, which means that now the state will have to wait until 2023 to legalize sports betting.
This is the third year that legislation on sports betting in the North Star has failed to resolve due to disagreements between the House of Representatives and Senate proposals on the issue.
Bills in both the Senate and the House of Representatives have pushed for the legalization of personal sports betting in tribal casinos, as well as for online games to be supervised by state tribes.
The Senate bill also included personal bets on racetracks, as it would allow both Running Aces Racetrack in Columbus and Canterbury Park in Shakapi to offer retail sports betting.
However, Indian Game Association of Minnesota (MIGA) opposes any sports betting legislation that includes racetracks and governors Tim Waltz previously stated that any bill that was not supported by the tribes would not be signed by them.
According to Gambling.comMIGA wrote in a statement to the Senate: “During the stakeholder process, Stevenson, Representative (Pat) Garafala and others developed a bill that provides a safe and competitive market for those who bet on sports in Minnesota without compromising the viability of tribal games in the state.
“Therefore, nine out of 10 MIGA tribes offer full and active support for the current version of HF 778, while one member of the association does not. If the A-22 Amendment, which expands commercial games, is amended, all 10 MIGA tribes will oppose the law. ”