New Minnesota Sports Betting Bill Has No Chance Of Passing

• Senator John Marty’s sports betting bill, SF 5330, would bring legal sports betting to Minnesota but has many controversial features.
• The biggest reason why this bill won’t pass is because it doesn’t designate any revenue towards Minnesota’s horse racing industry.
• This bill also proposes a 40% sports betting tax rate, doubling the 20% rate of Matt Klein’s sports betting bill (SF 1949) that had already passed in committee.

MINNEAPOLIS – Striking details of a new Minnesota sports betting bill make it unlikely to have success in the Minnesota Senate. The bill would bring legal sports betting to the Gopher State, but significantly increases funding towards a problem gambling fund, removes revenue share with the state’s horse racing industry, and doubles the sports betting tax rate up to an alarming 40%.

These surprising features from Sen. John Marty’s sports betting bill come from his belief that Minnesota sports betting won’t bring in much revenue and will mostly contribute to addiction and mental health problems.

As chair of the Senate Finance Committee, I don’t see legalized sports betting as a big revenue source for the state. I see the reality we face: huge additional costs to taxpayers in mental health and addiction problems. #mnleg #sportsbettinghttps://t.co/2imEXKq8LW

— Senator John Marty (@JohnMarty) March 14, 2024

Under Marty’s bill, half of the sports betting revenue will go towards problem gambling treatment, with the remaining 50% split between the state’s general fund and public schools for prevention of addiction and mental health assistance. The 40% sports betting tax rate would be the second-highest in the country, only trailing New York’s 51% tax rate.

Does SF 5330 Have A Shot Of Passing?

In short, no. The main preventative of Marty’s bill is the removal of revenue share for Minnesota’s horse racing industry.

Concerns over the state’s horse racing industry made Sen. Matt Klein implement an amendment to his sports betting bill, SF 1949, to increase revenue earned by Minnesota racetracks. The combination of ignorance towards horse racing, massive tax rate, and the lack of live in-game sports betting is bill suicide for a state that wants sports betting like Minnesota.

News tags: John Marty | Matt Klein | Minnesota | MN SF 1949 | MN SF 5330