Gambling regulators across the U.S. have been turning up the heat on illegal, unregulated, and unwanted forms of online gambling happening in their backyards, and Minnesota is no exception.
- Minnesota is quietly pressuring offshore sportsbooks, sweepstakes casinos, and prediction markets to cease unregulated operations within the state.
- Despite lacking cease-and-desist authority, regulators contacted over 20 companies and launched investigations, warning that noncompliance could hurt future licensing opportunities.
- The state continues to weigh legal sports betting legislation for 2026, aiming to balance tribal interests and respond to growing concerns over unregulated online gambling.
The profile of Minnesota’s attempt to clamp down on offshore sportsbooks and sweepstakes casinos may be a bit lower than those of other states, but it’s happening.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Alcohol and Gaming Enforcement division (AGE) has seen to that, especially since the state has definitely not legalized the sports betting or online casino gambling those entities may be offering.
“In Minnesota … we're in the same boat as all the other states,” said Jon Anglin, special agent in charge and the incoming interim director of the AGE, in an interview with Covers last week. “And we're doing similar things as other states.”
The AGE contacted more than 20 companies on June 1 (the full list is at the bottom of this story) about their illegal, unregulated, or unwanted online gaming activities in the state, albeit with “mixed results,” Anglin said. Those entities appear to be mostly or all tied to sweepstakes and offshore sports betting and casino sites, although Minnesota has taken aim at other forms of online wagering as well.
“We sent out letters asking them to stop the operation or change their business practices,” Anglin said.
Two of the companies, Prediction Strike and Alltroo, worked with the division and are now in compliance with state gaming law, the division says.
However, most of the contacted entities appear to be shunning or stalling Minnesota’s requests. For example, one of the companies, offshore sports betting operator Bovada, has not added Minnesota to its list of its restricted states, as it has with others that have ordered it to cease and desist.
! The Michigan Gaming Control Board just announced it has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Bovada, which it accuses of "operating illegal online gaming sites" available to residents in the state. pic.twitter.com/u0UG6A5dv0
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) May 30, 2024
While Bovada has, for whatever reason, bowed to the wishes of regulators in some states, in others like Minnesota, it has declined. The Washington State Gambling Commission even announced Sept. 19 that it had sent a second cease-and-desist notice to Bovada after the Curaçao-based bookmaker failed to comply with the first.
In Minnesota, the AGE doesn’t have “cease-and-desist authority,” Anglin said, because those companies are not Minnesota licensees. Even so, the AGE can ask companies to knock it off, and hold it against them if they do not.
Minnesota's attorney general was also one of 50 that called on the U.S. Department of Justice in August to move against illegal offshore gambling operators. The AGE has opened criminal investigations as well, said current and soon-to-retire director Carla Cincotta.
“One of the things that we are lacking are a lot of victims or complainants who are reporting in,” Cincotta added. “But one of the things that we can do is utilize our undercover operations and our special agents to go ahead and play these systems, determine what's happening, collect evidence, and then we will prepare that for a prosecutorial decision.”
Another business practice that Minnesota would like to see changed is that of federally regulated prediction markets, like Kalshi and Crypto.com, that are offering de facto sports wagering via event contracts.
Minnesota's attorney general was one of 34 state AGs that filed an amicus brief in connection with the New Jersey legal fight over sports event contracts offered by Kalshi.
“Accepting Kalshi’s position would wrongly upset our country’s traditional division of power,” the AGs wrote. “Beyond that, eliminating the States’ ability to regulate online sports betting would pose very serious risks to the States’ citizens. Online sports betting, while convenient and entertaining for many, comes with life-altering consequences for some.”
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
That legal matter is ongoing. In the meantime, the various forms of illegal, unregulated, and unwanted online gambling in Minnesota are also competing for wagering dollars with the state’s various forms of legalized gambling, such as tribal casinos, pull-tabs, and horse racing.
This is why unregulated wagering has and will continue to be raised in the Minnesota legislature when debating whether to legalize sports betting.
Minnesota is still one of a handful of states that has not legalized sports betting, online or otherwise. While lawmakers have been trying to change that fact for years, various concerns and complications have consistently gotten in the way.
Nevertheless, state lawmakers have suggested they will make another effort in 2026 and believe they have found a revenue-sharing formula that can work for all of Minnesota’s gambling stakeholders. The rise of federally regulated prediction markets and their de facto form of sports wagering is expected to be another argument used by pro-sports betting lawmakers in the upcoming legislative session.
It remains to be seen if the latest Minnesota sports betting campaign will be successful, but anyone who is currently offering something along those lines in the state may want to consider stopping. That is because if Minnesota were to legalize sports betting or iGaming, any pre-existing activity in the state could be held against an operator who wants into the regulated market.
“We did note in that letter that failure to either comply with Minnesota law or cease those operations here will definitely impact a licensing decision in the future,” Cincotta said.
In the meantime, the AGE is trying to get the message out to consumers about the risks they may take by playing on certain sites.
“To remind them of the consumer protections that they are lacking, that there is no accountability for the games that they're playing online that aren't regulated or are considered to be illegal,” Cincotta said. “There's no consumer protection, there's no recourse if they are victimized.”
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
The entities contacted by the AGE include:
- BetAnySports
- BetNow
- BetOnline
- BetUS
- BetWhale
- Bovada
- CoinCasino
- Everygame Sportsbook
- Fortune Coins
- Golden Hearts Games
- Golden Hearts Games, Inc.
- McLuck Casino
- MyBookie
- Rebet
- SlotsandCasino
- SportsBetting
- Stake.us
- Sweepstakes Limited
- VG Luckyland, Inc. (VGW)
- Xbet
- Zula Casino
