PRIOR LAKE, Minn. – In Minnesota, it may sound crazy or callous given recent events, but the effort to legalize sports betting is set to continue, and it has seemingly become about a lot more than just letting people place some same-game parlays.
For the state's Native American tribes, legalization could help protect their brick-and-mortar casino businesses and position them well for future online gambling opportunities. For state lawmakers, it could be an example of bipartisanship in trying and tragic times in and outside the legislature. It could also mean money for charities, the horse racing industry, and to woo big events, like the Super Bowl.
"When a legislator asked me, 'What's in it for the state,' well, what's a Super Bowl worth to you?" said Andy Platto, executive director of the pro-sports betting Minnesota Indian Gaming Association (MIGA), during a panel discussion at the Indian Gaming Association's mid-year conference on Tuesday. "Because that's what we're talking about here."
- Efforts to legalize sports betting in Minnesota are expected to continue in 2026, with lawmakers emphasizing a model that would be controlled by the state's Native American tribes.
- Political divisions, moral objections, and balancing the interests of tribes, racetracks, and charitable gaming groups have repeatedly stalled progress in the state legislature.
- Recent legislative instability, including the assassination of a House member and key lawmakers stepping down, adds further uncertainty to whether legalization efforts will succeed.
But before Minnesota can dream about rolling out a sports betting-funded red carpet for the Big Game, it has to legalize sports betting. And, as history has shown, getting a sports betting bill passed is a difficult thing in a state legislature that is divided on the issue (and not just along party lines) and that has recently been rocked by tragedy.
In June, longtime Minnesota lawmaker and Democratic-Farmer-Labor leader Melissa Hortman was assassinated, shot and killed with her husband, Mark. Another Minnesota lawmaker, DFL Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, were shot as well, but survived and are recovering.
There was a moment of silence during Tuesday's IGA panel for the Hortmans, with Platto calling them "incredible people and longtime friends to Minnesota tribes."
Hortman's support of MIGA and the state's Native Americans was "unwavering," Platto said, and the former speaker had also been a supporter of legalizing sports betting under a tribal-controlled model.
Again, though, those attempts at legalizing sports betting have come up short over the years, including in 2025. Moreover, given the events of the summer, getting back to work on something like legalizing sports betting seems very unimportant.
Yet, as comments at the IGA conference suggested, the debate on the issue is set to to continue next year. There is even hope that 2026 could be when legal and regulated Minnesota sports betting happens.
"We're starting to get our feet back under us and trying to move forward with things," DFL Rep. Brad Tabke said during Tuesday's panel.
It all starts with the tribes
The IGA conference that Platto and Tabke spoke at was held at the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minn., which is owned and operated by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community.
And, as that setting might suggest, the vision for legalized betting discussed at the conference was one that flows through the state’s Native American tribes. This proposed “Minnesota Model” has gotten traction in the state legislature before, and the comments made on Tuesday suggest it will likely be the backbone of any legislative effort in 2026.
“The exclusivity part of this bill is not really negotiable, in my opinion,” DFL Sen. Nick Frentz told conference attendees during the panel discussion. “And I had an advocate for a different approach this morning who called and said, ‘Well, we know we'll have to have exclusivity if we're going to pass anything.’”
Frentz sponsored legislation this year that would authorize online sports betting, and provide mobile wagering licenses for federally recognized Native American tribes. Those tribes could then offer statewide online sports betting themselves or in partnership with operators like DraftKings and FanDuel.
KSTP/SurveyUSA poll: Minnesotans want sports betting, Social Security tax elimination https://t.co/TKAgktbJ2d
— Tom Hauser (@thauserkstp) February 3, 2024
Putting tribes at the center of sports betting in Minnesota would be important to them for a few reasons, not all of them immediately obvious.
Additional revenue is definitely one. A presentation given on Tuesday by Gene Johnson, executive vice president of consulting and research firm Victor-Strategies, suggested the Minnesota sports betting market could be similar in size to already legalized states like Colorado and Maryland.
But some of the reasons for tribal-run sports betting go beyond money in the here and now, particularly with new forms of online gambling popping up and competing with brick-and-mortar gaming facilities. Those new competitors include sweepstakes casinos and federally regulated prediction markets, which are in addition to offshore gambling sites already taking action in the state.
"Sports betting is certainly a potential source of revenue for MIGA members, but maybe even more important than the dollars is state recognition that tribes are best suited to operate in the online gaming market, whether that's sports or whatever comes next," Platto said. "So in a lot of ways, passing tribally exclusive mobile sports betting is a way to protect tribal gaming's current successes while ensuring a prosperous future in whatever direction gaming takes."
Frentz said the state has “billions of dollars of illegal online sports betting” that is happening right now, and there are potential problem gambling issues associated with that activity.
“So, regulated better than not regulated,” Frentz said. “We have to make that case.”
The MN House and Senate have a joint proposal for legalized sports betting in MN. They say they’ve reached agreement with the Minnesota Indian Gaming Assoc and local professional sports teams. MN horse tracks are left out of the agreement. Details tonight on 5 Eyewitness News. pic.twitter.com/UTgbfVXSNR
— Tom Hauser (@thauserkstp) February 21, 2023
Still, the Minnesota legislature has debated legalizing sports betting for years now, and getting a bill passed remains no easy thing.
While 39 states have now taken the plunge (including nearby ones like Iowa), in Minnesota, the issue continues to run into various roadblocks. Arguably, the biggest challenge has been deciding how to balance the interests of various gambling stakeholders, including casino-operating Native American tribes, the state’s horse racing tracks, and charitable gaming.
Proponents believe a good balance has been found with recent legislation.
The bill backed by Frentz, SF 757 (which will carry over into 2026), proposes a 22% tax rate. It would also give 45% of sports betting-related tax revenue to charitable gaming groups, 15% to the horse racing industry, and 10% to try to "attract and host large-scale sporting events in Minnesota," among other things. Hence, Platto's talk of the Super Bowl.
Finding the right financial balance again could be another subject of debate in 2026. Yet Frentz suggested that the opposition to sports betting isn’t so much over how the proceeds are divided.
“Our obstacle is the moral objection to people enjoying themselves,” he said.
Nevertheless, Frentz and Tabke sounded willing to try to overcome that obstacle in 2026 and beyond, if necessary.
On Monday, the House DFL chose Rep. Zack Stephenson as their new leader in the legislature. Stephenson is another supporter of sports betting in Minnesota, and has built up a good relationship with the state’s Native American tribes, which could bode well for legalization.
“We certainly have a wonderful advocate for tribes in a leadership position in the House this next session,” MIGA’s Platto said during Tuesday's panel.
Yet in the other chamber of the legislature, a Republican sports betting supporter, Sen. Jeremy Miller, announced this week he will not run for reelection next year. If sports betting doesn’t get done in 2026, then, proponents could lose a potentially key ally.
Frentz noted that another pro-sports betting lawmaker, Republican Sen. Eric Pratt, is running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“So wherever we were in the Minnesota Senate, we're a couple advocates down,” Frentz said.
Here's hoping
Yet Tabke suggested the votes are there in the House, and he is still hopeful a bill can get passed in 2026, “even in difficult political circumstances.”
Tabke has likewise backed tribal-controlled sports betting legislation in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and said the legislature was within “inches” of getting a bill passed in 2024.
In 2025, similar efforts didn’t get as far, which could be attributed to a generally turbulent year for state lawmakers (the first day of the session even saw what the DFL alleged was an “attempted coup").
The state legislature is also virtually divided 50/50 between Democrats and Republicans, albeit with special elections coming up for both the House and Senate. Passing any bill will require bipartisan support, as there are Democrats and Republicans both for and against legal wagering.
While Tabke thought the tied legislature would provide an opportunity for sports betting this year, the "trust" among lawmakers just never developed, he said. In 2026, though, he again has hope.
“We know that we have a model that can and will work for a lot of different entities, that will get the votes it needs in order to pass in the Minnesota Legislature,” he said. “And I think that it's something that will be very, very good for all the residents of Minnesota, and so I look forward to working on it in whatever capacity I am this coming session, and hopefully getting it done.”
