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SAINT PAUL, Minn. — With six days to go until the start of the 2025 legislative session, sports betting took center stage again at the State Capitol Wednesday.
Last session, a bipartisan group of lawmakers nearly brokered a deal to legalize online sports wagering. However, at Wednesday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing, DFL Senator John Marty invited skeptics of gambling to testify about the potential risks and harms of sports betting.
“As the legislature has considered sports betting over the years, I think there have been over 30 hearings between the House and Senate, all of which focused understandably on the specifics of legislation and they also talked about who profits from sports betting,” Marty said. “Unfortunately, none of them focused on the health, economics and social harms that can result on Minnesota families.”
The two-hour committee session included testimony from a number of speakers, including New Jersey attorney Matt Litt, who said legalized sports betting in his state was a “public health disaster that was destroying real lives and real families.” Professors from UCLA and Northwestern testified about their research into gambling practices, groups like the Minnesota Alliance on Problem Gambling and Stop Predatory Gambling offered their perspectives, and an anonymous woman named Leanne testified via Zoom that she lost thousands to gambling addiction.
In a letter to Marty filed before the hearing, Citizens Against Gambling Expansion also expressed opposition to sports gambling, which the group argued “will usher in a new era of gambling for our state, resulting in a massive expansion and unleashing negative consequences for the youth and those who become quickly addicted to the easy access of gambling.”
The hearing comes less than a week before lawmakers are scheduled to return to the State Capitol. The 2025 session has been largely overshadowed so far by the power struggle in the House and, to a lesser extent, the Senate pending special elections at the end of the month.
In terms of actual legislation, though, sports betting will probably be among the most high-profile legislative issues this year outside of the budget. Since the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for online sports betting in 2018, a total of 38 states and D.C. have legalized it, with Minnesota one of the final holdouts.
The issue of sports betting does not fit neatly along partisan lines, with both parties including both supporters and opponents.
After coming close to a deal last session, DFL Sen. Matt Klein said he plans to reintroduce the same bill in 2025 for consideration by his colleagues. The bipartisan legislation will need to thread the needle among the many stakeholders who make their living on gambling, such as the Native American tribal casinos, racetracks like Canterbury Park and Running Aces and charities like local VFWs that conduct legal pull-tabs.
Klein’s bill would grant exclusive licenses to the 11 tribes in Minnesota, who would then oversee the operations of online sports betting.
“The reason it’s important is because the tribes have demonstrated that they can really operate wagering in Minnesota safely, and responsibly, and in a way that’s trustworthy,” Klein said. “Any bill that gets across the line this year will have to be a bipartisan initiative. Sports betting is one of the few things in this legislative session that I think has some legs.”
Klein’s legislation also includes a 22-percent tax to raise millions in revenue for the state, along with safeguards to protect against impulsive gambling — like a waiting period to place bets after large losses and resources for gambling addiction.
After Wednesday’s hearing on the risks of sports betting, the Sports Betting Alliance of Minnesota issued a statement saying that “online sports betting is already happening right now in Minnesota. But instead of using regulated and government-approved products, Minnesotans are forced to use offshore and unregulated websites that brazenly flout gaming laws meant to protect consumers, ensure responsible play, and prevent minors from gaining access. In fact, some unregulated platforms have been shown to actively target minors.”
“That’s why a growing chorus of bipartisan Minnesota legislators have stood up and voiced their support for a transparent sports betting marketplace, one that allows Minnesota regulators to test and approve every product and ensure platforms are used responsibly,” the alliance wrote. “It’s also worth noting that Senator Marty, a longtime opponent of sports betting, did not include the perspective of Minnesota sovereign tribal nations who are key stakeholders in gaming in the state. In fact, he did not permit anyone to testify who did not share his perspective – not responsible gaming experts, industry representatives, or experts in the dangers of the thriving illegal sports betting market in Minnesota.”
Over at Tom Reid’s in St. Paul, a popular sports bar especially during Wild home games, Shaila Carbajal said customers are often surprised to find out that online sports betting isn’t legal in Minnesota.
“When I travel outside, in my group of friends, they are excited to do sports betting in other states,” she said. “I don’t see why not. We already have other forms of gambling.”
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