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The Minnesota legislature has adjourned for the 2025 legislative session with sports betting efforts again falling short.
Three bills in the Senate and one in the House failed to move past initial committees this year.
A proposal to study the economic impact of sports betting also failed to gain traction.
Multiple Sports Betting Bills Introduced in Minnesota This Year
There were hopes that Minnesota would finally legalize sports betting in 2025. Last year, an agreement was reportedly reached but ran out of time before it reached a vote, suggesting that the progress would continue this year.
Sen. Matt Klein, who sponsored sports betting bills in 2023 and 2024, once again led the efforts. At the beginning of the legislative session in January, he introduced his latest bill, SF 757, which stalled in the State and Local committee with a 6-6 vote. His proposal would’ve allowed for 11 mobile sports betting platforms and called for a 22% tax.
A companion bill appeared in the House but suffered a similar fate. It did not pass the Commerce, Finance, and Policy committee.
While the House has been more active in the past, the Senate took the initiative in 2025. State Sen. Jeremy Miller introduced the Minnesota Sports Betting Act 3.0 shortly after Klein’s proposal.
Miller’s proposal also called for 11 mobile platforms, but with a slightly lower tax rate of 20%. That legislation, too, failed to make progress and stalled in the State and Local Government Committee.
The failure of the earlier proposals did not deter lawmakers, as a new bill appeared in April. US Senator Nick Frentz introduced SB 3414, which aligned with Klein’s bill on tax rate and number of operators. Frentz’s proposal remained active until the end of the legislative session without much movement.
SF 3414 Called For a Ban on Push Notifications
If passed, SF 3414 would’ve set a US precedent regarding sports betting regulation. One of the provisions prohibits operators from sending push notifications to users who are not actively using their platform. Exceptions would include warnings of fraudulent activities.
Push notifications are a common way for operators to attempt to re-engage users by offering incentives like bonus codes. However, that could pose a risk for those with gambling problems.
Unless a user has self-excluded, operators don’t have a way of knowing the reason why they have stopped using the app or website. Unexpected offers could be very disruptive to someone trying to stay away from gambling.
The provision reflects a growing emphasis across the US on promoting responsible gambling. The movement is not tied to lawmakers only. Industry stakeholders are also working towards reducing problem gambling through technology and other means.
For example, last fall FanDuel introduced MySpend, a responsible gambling dashboard.
Meanwhile, the NFL partnered with the Responsible Gaming Council to provide responsible gambling education at Canadian universities and colleges.
