Everything Minnesotans should know about betting on sports in 2024

Dozens of states have rushed to legalize sports betting since the United States Supreme Court ruled five years ago that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 was unconstitutional.

Now there are only 12 states where it is still illegal to gamble on sports, including Minnesota. Will that change? Some supporters in the state say yes — and as soon as early this year.

Sports betting already has a growing presence in the Minnesota sports scene. An ad for a sports betting-focused casino is painted on the Target Center floor. It took all of two minutes into a Twins playoff broadcast this fall for the TV announcer to promote a sportsbook website, and a blitz of gambling company commercials hit Vikings game viewers every weekend this season.

Legislatures around the country are weighing the pros of tax revenue and personal freedom vs. the cons of vice and addiction. Here's where things stand in Minnesota and elsewhere when it comes to betting on sports:

Where is sports betting legal?

Currently, 38 states and the District of Columbia allow or have signed legislation to allow some form of legalized sports gambling. The states that don't allow it? Minnesota, Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.

How can you bet on sports?

There are two primary methods of sports gambling: online via mobile apps or placing bets in person at a casino sportsbook. Of the 38 states that allow it, 24 allow for both mobile and in-person wagering. Tennessee, Vermont and Wyoming currently allow only mobile wagering. And several states — including North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin — only allow sports gambling in casinos, or on land owned by American Indian tribes. "Legalization" comes in various flavors, in other words.

In mobile-betting states, they will track your location to make sure you are within a certain border. In other states, bets have to be made in person. Rules are ever-changing, rarely fixed and debates often contentious.

Did teams reverse course?

Yes. Pro and college sports teams are lining up to promote legalization after resisting ties to sports gambling for decades. Why? Millions of reasons, all of them including dollar signs. Casinos want new customers and they'll advertise at high volume, and high cost, to fans of these teams and through those teams. Meanwhile, pro athletes are getting suspended (NFL) and college players arrested in several states (Iowa, notably) after placing bets. Leagues and colleges are quickly trying to educate athletes as the ground shifts.

What's the status of sports gambling in Minnesota?

Horse racing was legalized in 1983 and remains the only sport you can wager on in Minnesota. Legislation to allow for more robust sports gambling was proposed during the 2023 legislative session but failed to make it out of committee in the House or out of the Senate. It is likely to be considered again in 2024.

What's holding up legislation?

The major sticking point is who gets to control sports gambling in the state and how revenue is split between the American Indian tribes and the state's two horse tracks — Canterbury Park in Shakopee and Running Aces in Columbus. The tribes don't want the tracks to have expanded sports betting options outside of what they already offer, while the tracks want a cut of all sports gambling tax revenues.

Can Minnesotans find other ways to bet on sports?

Minnesotans can gamble on mobile sites such as Bovada and BetOnline, which operate outside of the United States. There's no federal law prohibiting gambling on sports via websites in other countries but Minnesota's Department of Public Safety says it is a "crime" to use them. A gambler would also have to feel confident that their digital transaction was safe and they'd be paid out for any winnings. Minnesotans can also cross the border into any state that allows sports gambling and place bets.

What can you gamble on in Minnesota?

Charitable gaming

Bar games such as pull-tabs, electronic pull-tabs, plus bingo halls and meat raffles, are legal in Minnesota and have been enormous drivers of revenues for charitable organizations — such as youth sports — and local and state taxes. Tax revenue from electronic pull-tabs helped U.S. Bank Stadium become debt-free 13 years early after the state was able to retire its bond payments.

Lotto

Another major driver of state revenue, the Minnesota Lottery reported $740.2 million in sales in 2022 with $172.6 million going back to the state.

Horse racing

You can gamble on horse races at Canterbury Park and Running Aces. Canterbury Park ran 54 days of racing this year with a total purse of nearly $12 million, while Running Aces had 55 days with a total purse of $6.6 million.

Tribal gaming

Canterbury Park and Running Aces also feature a variety of other gambling options including poker and blackjack and they are two of the 23 casinos operating in the state. The others are operated by Minnesota's seven Anishinaabe (Chippewa, Ojibwe) and four Dakota (Sioux) communities, with the largest being Mystic Lake, Treasure Island and Grand Casino Hinckley.

Social gambling

There are estimates that billions of dollars are spent each year on sports gambling in Minnesota, but as long as its among friends, it's legal. The state uses the definition of a "private, social bet" to differentiate this form of gambling from illegal sports bets. The main way to tell the difference: Is the bet part of an organized, commercialized or systemic gambling operation? If not, it's legal.

Daily fantasy

Startup companies are climbing into the grey zone of fantasy sports wagering, which they say falls outside of sports gambling. One example is PrizePicks out of Atlanta, which offers a mobile app that Minnesotans can download, as long as they're 18, to wager on daily fantasy player props — like the number of strikeouts in a game by a starting pitcher or the number of rebounds by a basketball player.

How does sports gambling differ in neighboring states?

Every state has its own rules and regulations. But one thing is uniform for mobile gaming: Mobile apps are location-tracked and can only be accessed within state or tribal boundaries.

Here's how you can gamble on sports in Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin:

Iowa

Iowa allows for in-person and mobile gambling. Iowa is one of the few states that allows for gambling on in-state college sporting events. While you can bet games involving teams such as the Iowa Hawkeyes or Iowa State Cyclones, you cannot gamble on player props involving local college players, like betting on how many passing yards the Iowa quarterback will throw against the Gophers later this year.

You have to be 21 to gamble on sports and there are 18 sportsbooks in Iowa where you can gamble in person. The most prominent for Minnesota residents is the Diamond Jo Casino, just over the border on I-35 in Northwood, Iowa.

North Dakota

A measure to legalize sports gambling throughout North Dakota was recently struck down in the Senate, but you can gamble on sports at casinos within the boundaries of the five tribal nations that share geography with the state. The Dakota Magic Casino in Hankinson sits a few miles from the Minnesota border and features one of three sportsbooks in the state.

Two years ago, the five tribes negotiated with Gov. Doug Burgum to lower the legal gambling age from 21 to 19, but he denied their request for exclusive rights to online gaming — leaving open the possibility that the state could expand sports betting.

You cannot bet on games involving North Dakota college teams or players while gambling in North Dakota.

South Dakota

State legislators rejected a resolution last February that would have given voters the chance to legalize mobile sports gambling statewide via a ballot amendment in 2024. For now, you can place bets at eight casinos located in Deadwood and a few tribal casinos. Those include the Dakota Connection Casino in Sisseton and the Dakota Sioux Casino in Watertown, both near the Minnesota border.

You have to be 21 and cannot bet on games involving South Dakota college teams or players while gambling in South Dakota.

Wisconsin

You can only bet on tribal-owned land in Wisconsin. The Oneida Casino and Oneida Casino West Mason have sportsbooks, both near Green Bay. There has also been an influx of sports betting kiosks in the state this year, including at the Potawatomi casinos in Milwaukee and Carter.

For Minnesota residents, the closest casinos to place a bet on sports are the St. Croix casinos in Turtle Lake, Danbury and Hertel. All three have sports betting.

The Oneida tribe also owns several truck stops, so they offer their own mobile app and you can gamble on sports while parked at their "Oneida One-Stops" throughout the state. The boundaries are specific and detailed here.

You have to be 21 and cannot bet on games involving Wisconsin college teams or players while gambling in Wisconsin.

How has sports gambling increased since the law changed?

According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), Americans spent less than $1 billion on sports gambling in 2019, $1.54 billion in 2020, $4.34 billion in 2021 and $7.56 billion in 2022. . Through October sports gambling revenue in the U.S. was up 50.8% over last year.

But one of the key arguments that several legislators point to when pushing for increased legalization is this stat from the AGA: Americans illegally bet an estimated $64 billion on sports each year.

How much tax revenue could the state generate?

It's debatable, but state legislators have put the number at upwards of $40 million annually. In Iowa for fiscal year 2023, $13 million in tax revenue was raised on $2.2 billion in bets.

What are the arguments against legalizing sports betting?

Addiction is one major argument used against legalizing sports gambling. The Minnesota Alliance on Problem Gambling provides these figures: 250,000 Minnesotans currently exhibit problems with gambling. About 67% of those are adults who also struggle with mental health problems or substance abuse, and gamblers have the highest suicide rate of any addiction group. The Star Tribune published a story in October about a gambling treatment center in Granite Falls, Minn., that details some of the risks and dangers of problem gambling.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Canterbury Park and Running Aces offer slot machines.