Legalized sports betting may be coming to Minnesota. Just not anytime soon.

A brief letter by a major player in the world of legal gambling has changed the politics around the issue of sports gambling in Minnesota. At least for now.
Last week, Charles Vig, the chair of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association, wrote Gov. Tim Walz and the four legislative leaders to say the state’s gambling tribes weren’t interested in adding sports betting to their offerings.
But he did not stop there. In the letter, Vig said the tribes will probably oppose passing of laws to include Minnesota to the growing list of countries with legalized sports gambling. ”The Minnesota Indian Gaming Association continues to oppose the growth of off-reservation gaming, including the legalization of sports betting,” he wrote.
The seven casino-owning tribes in Minnesota join a group of unusual allies in sports gambling betting statements this year, including groups such as Citizens Against Gambling Expansion, which concerns about the ill effects of gaming, such as addiction.
The tribes don’t possess a veto over non-tribal gaming, but their voices are powerful, especially among DFLers like Gov. Tim Walz and the new House majority. Under federal law, states need to deal in good faith to permit tribes to offer the same kinds of gambling that is legal off-reservation.
Until a U.S. Supreme Court decision last spring cleared the way for countries to offer sports gambling similar to what’s lawful in Nevada casino sports books, that legislation wasn’t an issue in Minnesota. Now it is. With a 6-3 majority, the court ruled in Murphy v. NCAA that Congress exceeded its authority by preventing states from legalizing and regulating sports betting. The case had been brought by New Jersey, which wanted to give a boost to its fighting Atlantic City casinos, also had tried a series of legal moves to end the federal ban against sports gambling in all states except Nevada.
From the majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito, Jr. wrote that Congress has the authority to pass laws to govern sports betting itself. But when it decides not to, every nation is free to do so, and several have already done exactly that.
A draft bill circulated in the Minnesota capitol at the conclusion of this 2018 session but no formal bill was ever filed and no hearings were held. Supporters of the legislation, headed by Sen. Roger Chamberlain, R-Blaine, have been preparing a bill for this session,.
Chamberlain, who is chair of the Senate Taxes Committee, was surprised and a little disappointed in the tribes’ position, which he found out about through Twitter. ”We met with them and while they’re not necessarily in alignment they are obviously concerned about losing their economic foundation, the economic engine,” Chamberlain said. ”We know that. We have reassured them that we are not interested in harming that fascination or jeopardizing tribal compacts.”
State Sen. Roger Chamberlain
Courtesy of Senate Media Services
State Sen. Roger Chamberlain, R-Blaine, said cellular gambling must be part of this state law since that is where a lot of the gambling action is.
However, Chamberlain said he is optimistic it remains subject to negotiations, and he said he thinks it might be a win for the state, the tribes and for non-tribal gambling. ”There’s no reason to shut out the remainder of the state and the remainder of the possible customers and operators and players from getting involved in a perfectly safe and legal business,” he explained. ”We expect to get into a location where everybody can agree and I think we could.”
Once it seems clear that tribes would be able to give sports betting in their own casinos if it’s made legal for non-tribal gambling, legal advisors notice that sports gambling sets up some tough choices for tribes. The primary issue is that betting on sports — on the results of matches, on scores and other results — isn’t especially lucrative for casinos. Another is that under federal law, tribes can only offer gambling within the boundaries of bookings. This makes the most-promising aspect of sport betting — distant betting online or via mobile devices — may be off limits to them, but not to non-tribal sports novels.
Chamberlain said cellular gambling must be part of the state law since that’s where a lot of the betting action is. Part of the rationale for legalizing it state by state is to capture a few of the bets now made illegally.
”In this market and culture you need mobile access to be profitable,” Chamberlain said.
Online betting would also make gaming available in rural and remote areas of the state that might not have casinos or industrial sports books nearby. One possible solution for the tribes is to announce that the gambling takes place where a player’s telephone is, but in which the computer server which processes the wager is situated. That’s far from solved law, however.
”We can find our way around those problems and get it done,” Chamberlain said.
Vig is chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota, which possesses the Mystic Lake and Little Seven casinos, didn’t close the door on ultimate tribal interest in sport betting. He did, however, ask the state to move slowly.
”While there is a desire by some to look at this matter during the current session, it appears that the general public interest will be best served first by careful analysis of sports betting’s implications within this nation, evaluation of other nations’ experiences where sports betting betting was legalized, and comprehensive consultation with the large number of stakeholders interested in it,” Vig wrote.
A spokesman for the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association said leaders were not readily available for interviews and that Vig’s letter would be their sole statement on the problem.
State Rep. Laurie Halverson
State Rep. Laurie Halverson
The chair of the House committee that could consider any sports gambling bills said the tribal institution’s letter does not change her position on the problem. Rep. Laurie Halverson, DFL-Eagan, stated that there are still no patrons within her caucus pushing a statement. Before the tribes made their position known, Halverson said she planned to be cautious and deliberate on the topic.
”I have yet to watch language or possess anything introduced,” she said.
But she anticipates laws will surface, and that she wants to possess at least an information hearing so lawmakers will understand the impacts and listen out of both backers and competitions. ”I believe we are all in learning mode,” she said. ”If something is this new, that’s the legislative model typically. Things take time and we have to be deliberative about such major modifications to Minnesota law.”
In a press conference Wednesday,” Walz said his fundamental position on the problem will be to legalize and regulate. But he explained that should come just after a procedure for hearings and discussion. ”I trust adults to make mature decisions,” he explained of gambling. ”I also recognize that dependence comes in many forms, if that be alcohol, tobacco or cannabis or sports betting and these can have societal consequences which are pretty catastrophic.
”When the Legislature chooses to accept that up, we’re certainly interested in working together to get it right,” Walz said.

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