Minnesota Sports Betting Bills Give Exclusive Sports Betting Control to State Tribes

• Minnesota Rep. Zack Stephenson and Sen. Matt Klein introduced sports betting legislation on Monday
• Tribes would receive sports betting exclusivity
• State professional sports teams support the bill

Minnesota lawmakers from the House and Senate introduced Minnesota sports betting legislation yesterday that has received support from two powerful groups in the state.

Minnesota Rep. Zack Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids) and Sen. Matt D. Klein (DFL-53) introduced companion bills HF 2000 and SF 1949 to introduce retail and online sports betting in the state. The legislation will give Minnesota tribes sports betting exclusivity.

In a press conference, Stephenson said the legislation is fully supported by the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association and Minnesota professional sports teams.

“This bill is supported by the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association and it’s also supported by Minnesota’s professional sports teams…I want to thank them both and really commend the hard work they’ve put in to reach an agreement. It’s remarkable whenever you have a large group of different corporate organizations come together in an agreement and a large group of sovereign tribal nations come to an agreement, but the fact that they were also able to agree with each other really speaks to the collaborative spirit and the hard work they’ve put into this,” Stephenson said.

Tribes at Heart of Minnesota Sports Betting

This is the second year in a row that Stephenson has floated a bill to legalize retail and online sports betting in the state and grant exclusivity to Minnesota tribes. However, this is the first time the Minnesota chambers have introduced companion legislation.

The legislation will allow each of the 11 Minnesota tribes to be granted a sports betting license. Each tribe will be able to partner with an operator to run their sports betting services.

• Fond du Lac Band
• Grand Portage Band
• Mille Lacs Band
• White Earth Band
• Bois Forte Band
• Leech Lake Band
• Red Lake Nation
• Upper Sioux Community
• Lower Sioux Indian Community
• Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
• Prairie Island Indian Community

The bill sets the online sports betting tax rate at 10% and will allow 19 tribal casinos to offer retail sports betting in their establishments. Tribes can procure an online sports betting license for an annual fee of $2,125. Tribes will be able to partner with one online sports betting platform provider, that will pay a $38,250 fee for a three-year license, plus a $6,000 application fee.

Betting on college sports will be allowed in the bill.

The first $2.7 million collected from taxes will be appropriated to the commission of public safety to regulate online sports betting in the state. The next $1.353 million will be appropriated to the commissioner of revenue to administer the tax. After these appropriations, the remaining tax revenues will equally fund compulsive gambling treatment programs and support youth sports.

When asked why tribes will receive sports betting exclusivity, Stephenson said it makes sense as the tribes are the longest running gaming operators in the state.

“For such a significant expansion of gaming, I believe it makes sense to partner with the most successful, longest running gambling operators in the state, which are our tribal casinos. They’re the most highly regulated form of gaming in the state of Minnesota. They have experience doing gaming at a level of operation that is much greater than any other operator in the state of Minnesota. We want a product that is safe, that has great consumer protections, that works across the state of Minnesota, and helps all communities in Minnesota. Only the tribes operate in all corners of the state in terms of who we could partner with for this, so it makes sense that the tribes are the significant partner we work with,” he said.

Already Has Legislative Competition

The legislation already has competition, as earlier this month Sen. Jeremy Miller (R-28) introduced the “Minnesota Sports Betting Act.” The bill seeks to legalize online and retail sports betting for each of the state’s 11 indigenous tribes, two horse racing tracks, and each professional sports team.

Miller’s proposal differs mainly from Stephenson and Klein’s sports betting legislation in that it will not grant Minnesota tribes sports betting exclusivity. The Minnesota Sports Betting Act will grant the state’s 11 tribes the ability to offer in-person sports betting at tribal casinos, but will also grant the state’s two horse racing tracks and each Minnesota professional sports teams the ability to do the same at their facilities.

Miller said in a press conference that he does not believe any tribal exclusive bill will have enough Democratic or Republican support to be passed.

Klein said he believes there is enough bipartisan and legislative support in the Senate to push it through to legalization.

“The conversations are early, but I take it as my charge to get it across the line at the Senate. I’m very optimistic we can do that. It likely will be a bipartisan vote. I think there’s support in most communities across Minnesota for this. Now that people have seen the language, I think they can react in a more serious way to what we’ve introduced. I wouldn’t count us out,” he said.