Lawmakers are continuing their push to make Minnesota sports betting legal, with another bill introduced this week.
Bill SF3414 is the fifth proposal in the state to make sports betting legal. Other attempts have failed so far.
The bill stipulates that only Minnesota’s federally recognized tribes will be eligible to obtain a mobile sports betting operator license. It proposes a license fee of $250,000 for a two-year term, with an additional $83,000 for renewal.
The bill was introduced by Sen. Nick Frentz and Sen. Matt Klein. Klein has also introduced another bill, SF757, which proposes to legalize sports betting.
Both bills propose a 22% tax rate on sports betting revenue, but differ in how they spend the tax revenue. Sen. Jeremy Miller has also been pushing for legal sports betting and tabled his third attempt to get the Minnesota Sports Betting Act passed.
Safer gambling measures
The latest bill includes rules over advertising to try to make gambling safer. All gambling adverts must display a helpline for problem gambling. Additionally, sportsbooks will be forbidden from advertising any bets as “risk-free”.
Other states have similar rules in place about the terminology that betting companies are allowed to use in their ads. Massachusetts has recently clamped down on ESPN hosts from describing bets as “risk-free investments”.
States have to toe-the-line between control and over-regulation. Gambling companies have frequently opposed proposals to limit the promotions and their wording, stating that too much control will send users to unregulated betting markets.
Minnesota sports betting one way or another
One of the bill’s authors, Sen. Matt Klein stated that he believes the state’s residents are already betting in high numbers, so legalizing is the only sensible option.
Klein commented, “People in very large numbers are gambling on their phones currently. It’s probably happening among the members of this committee and the members of our audience frequently and in increasing numbers.
He went on to add that they are doing it “on unregulated, offshore platforms that produce no revenue to the state and have no limits on underage youth or problem wagering.”
Unregulated platforms have been booming in states that do not offer legal options. Even in states with legal betting, alternative websites can often give better bonuses, odds, and more payment options, such as cryptocurrencies.
A recent poll indicates that 60% of voters support legalizing Minnesota sports betting. However, there remain opponents among senators and lawmakers.
Sen. Erin Quade commented, “If the industry likes this bill, it’s probably not good because it is the lack of protections that make them money.”
Sen. John Matry similarly advocated the need for protections in any plans to legalize gambling. He said, “If at some point you decide you want to move forward on sports betting, I would argue we should do it with strong regulations — and yes, it won’t be as profitable as it could be — but it would be strong regulations to address the growth in problems that we are sure to see with this.”
Time will tell whether the latest attempt makes any more progress than previous proposals.
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