Another push is underway at the State Capitol to legalize sports betting in Minnesota.
State Senator Jeremy Miller (R) says it's time to put protections around the sports betting that's already happening in the state.
"People in Minnesota are already betting on sports," Miller told Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News. "They're either doing it through illegal offshore accounts, they're doing it on the prediction markets, or they're doing it in other states. So anyone who says that sports betting is not happening in Minnesota is kidding themselves. Because we know sports betting is already happening in Minnesota."
Miller says this is the first time since he's started working on sports betting legislation that there's been a bipartisan and bicameral bill introduced.
DFL Senator Nick Frentz also agrees it's about offering protections to people already betting in Minnesota.
"This bill has restrictions on things like how bettors are advertised to, who can bet., a big point is the age limit," Frentz explains. "The prediction markets allow an 18-year-old in Minnesota to gamble. The bill would have a 21-year-old age limit."
The proposal would allow the 11 Minnesota Native tribes to partner with commercial sports betting operators.
Minnesota has struggled to get any kind of sports wagering bill to the finish line at the capitol. Meanwhile, a total of 39 states already allow at least some type of sports betting.
But, Republican House speaker Lisa Demuth tells WCCO's Vineeta Sawkar on the Morning News there's a 50/50 chance of getting a deal done this year.
"I don't know that it's really got - there's an appetite to really finishing that this year, but everything is on the table, so it would be foolish to say no," Demuth adds.
It's already legal in Iowa, and now Wisconsin lawmakers are taking a shot at expanding their sports betting in the state. The state legislature gave final approval Tuesday to a measure that could allow tribes to offer online sports betting available to people anywhere in Wisconsin.
But the Wisconsin measure still needs the signature of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. And it would not take effect immediately. Wisconsin would become the 32nd state to allow online sports betting.
