Minnesota lawmakers have bigger things to worry about than legalizing sports betting. Even so, a bipartisan group of state senators wants to take another run this year at authorizing statewide online sports wagering via Native American tribes.
An online sports betting bill, S.F. 4139, was introduced Wednesday in the Minnesota Senate. It was referred to the chamber's Commerce and Consumer Protection and Rules and Administration committees, according to the Senate's website.
- A bipartisan group of Minnesota senators introduced bill S.F. 4139 to legalize statewide online sports betting through Native American tribes, though it likely remains a low legislative priority.
- The proposal would allow up to 11 mobile sportsbooks regulated by the state, tax net revenue at 22%, and distribute funds to charitable gambling interests, the horse racing industry, tribes, and responsible gambling programs, among other things.
- The bill also attempts to address stakeholder concerns with restrictions like banning college prop bets, limiting push notifications, excluding prediction markets from regulation, and requiring studies on gambling activity and related harms.
The legislation looks to have some level of bipartisan support, as its sponsors include pro-sports betting lawmakers like DFL Sen. Nick Frentz and Republican Sen. Jeremy Miller. And, if passed, it would authorize online sports betting in Minnesota, where legislators have for years debated doing so without success.
Whether this year will produce a different result remains to be seen. There are other, heavier political topics that will take priority over Minnesota sports betting, such as addressing alleged fraud involving government services and attempts to impose new firearms restrictions following last year's assassination of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman.
So you're tell me there's a chance ...
DFL House Leader Zack Stephenson recently told Axios that sports betting is "issue No. 27 on the agenda this year."
So legalizing Minnesota sports betting may be a long shot again, and maybe more of a long shot than usual. However, some lawmakers will still give it a go, and S.F. 4139 proposes a framework similar to previously introduced ones.
Spent some time in Minnesota last week for the IGA's mid-year conference, which was a great crash course for a lot of things, including the state's Gordian knot of gambling:
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) September 15, 2025
Sports Betting May Offer Fixes for Minnesota’s Quirky Gambling Scene https://t.co/YVHLuVTW6p @Covers
There are a few reasons why this year's effort could succeed.
Among other things, the bill aims to placate a variety of stakeholders in the state’s gambling industry, including Native American tribes, charitable gaming interests, and the horse racing industry.
Minnesota's lack of legalized sports betting also makes it an island in the Midwest. All of the state's neighbors have some form of legalized event wagering, including Wisconsin, where lawmakers are trying to authorize statewide mobile sports betting this year.
Furthermore, prediction markets are a relatively new source of motivation for state lawmakers who’d like to legalize online sports betting.
Those federally regulated exchanges are facilitating wagering on sports all over the U.S. now, including in Minnesota. Their presence adds to the non-state-regulated wagering options that residents have in any given state, which is something regulators in Minnesota and elsewhere have tried to combat.
The growing presence of and concern about prediction markets appears like it may be reflected in the latest Minnesota bill as well. The legislation says that “a peer-to-peer wager placed on a betting exchange” would not count as legal sports wagering in the state.
For some state lawmakers (such as those in Minnesota), federally regulated prediction markets may now offer another argument for legalizing online sports betting:https://t.co/MciY8FHO8T @Covers
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) September 19, 2025
The legislation states residents would have to be 21 or older to use the state's sportsbooks, and there could be nearly a dozen for bettors to choose from.
The bill would put Minnesota's commissioner of public safety in charge of regulating mobile sports wagering in the state. The commissioner could then issue up to 11 mobile sports betting operator licenses to Native American tribes. Those licenses would be valid for 20 years but can only be issued to a tribe that legally conducts so-called "Class III gaming" at a brick-and-mortar casino in Minnesota.
Each tribe would be permitted to partner with one licensed mobile sports betting platform provider for its online sportsbook. While the tribes would have to pay an annual licensing fee of $2,125, their sportsbook-operating partners would pay a one-time licensing fee of $250,000 and then renewal fees of $83,000 every two years.
Net revenue from online sports betting would be taxed at 22%. The definition of net revenue would be total wagering minus winnings paid out and “the fair market value of noncash prizes paid out as winnings in the month.”
The tax money raised from online sports betting revenue would be divided up like so:
- 50% to offset taxes on charitable gambling revenue
- 15% for the horse racing industry
- 15% for Native American tribes that do not have online sportsbook partners with more than a 10% market share
- 15% for grants to host big sporting events in Minnesota, and to “increase access to sports and events for greater Minnesota residents”
- 4% for responsible and problem gambling programs
- 1% for funding "amateur sports integrity and participation” efforts
Tribes could offer in-person sports wagering at their casinos as well, provided they negotiate new gaming compacts with the state to cover that new offering. Wagers made on tribal lands would not be subject to state taxes.
All of the above suggests an effort by lawmakers to ease the concerns of the many stakeholders involved in Minnesota’s currently legal gambling industry. Those anxieties have been sticking points in the past, but the tax money is designed to help overcome those issues.
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Some state-specific restrictions on operators could smooth things over with other concerned parties. Among other things, online sportsbooks would be banned from offering college prop bets. Online sportsbook apps would also be prohibited from sending "push" notifications to users, unless it is to notify the bettor of "potentially fraudulent activity" tied to their account or for RG or identity verification purposes.
Interestingly, the legislation would require the commission to launch a study on gambling activity in Minnesota prior to the launch of legal sports betting. The purpose of the study would be to gauge how widespread wagering is and the level of problem gambling, and that data must be collected before the launch of mobile sports wagering. The study would then be updated every three years.
Another study would be commissioned "on the impact of sports betting on the prevalence of gambling disorders, suicide related to gambling disorders, and risks to youth of developing gambling disorders, based on any research available on how sports betting has impacted these problems in jurisdictions where sports betting is occurring."
