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We are down to 11 states without legal sports betting. Of the last remaining holdouts, some make complete sense.
Ultra-conservative states like Utah and Texas will poo-poo betting due to its “sinful” nature. Religion remains strong there so the dots connect.
Other states can’t get out of their own way. Places like Georgia and Oklahoma have stalled on sports betting due to political bickering between their key leaders.
Then there’s Minnesota. They’ve been in the news as of late a lot — not always for the best reasons. But recent stories have highlighted just how left-leaning the state is. We say that in a neutral way too. If anything, being liberal and open-minded makes you a more prime candidate to legalize betting than the opposite.
Yet, Minnesota sports betting has repeatedly failed to legalize betting. Why? And will the new year be any different? Keep on reading and we’ll update you on the state of betting inside the state.
2026 Outlook On Sports Betting
February 17, 2026 — that’s the day the brand-new legislative session starts in Minnesota. It will run through mid-May, giving in-state politicians about three months to pass any new laws, including on sports betting.
Early quotes coming out of the state paint a grim picture, though. Take this quote from state senator Erin Maye Quade:
“We have not seen this happen in Minnesota yet. And I think part of it is that the culture of sports betting is not as prevalent as it is in other states where they’ve legalized sports betting. So I think we’ve kept this very, very predatory industry from being injected into sports in Minnesota.”
Keyword in that quote is predatory industry. It does seem like the winds are changing for top sports betting apps. Public perception has turned on them as of late.
You saw a major city (Baltimore) sue the biggest names. You see sports fans complaining about the nonstop betting ads while they’re consuming sports content. And perhaps worst of all, you’re starting to see sports gambling scandals rip through the sports.
In the last two months, major stories have broken with a common thread: players “rigging” their performances to suit bettors. This happened in the NBA and most recently with NCAA basketball. You can argue that the legalization of betting (and the compliance departments that stem from it) are actually the reason why the scammers were caught, still, the optics to the casual person are not good for the gambling industry.
Perhaps this is why 43 percent of people say sports betting is a “bad thing” for society. That came from a brand-new study by Pew Research over the summer. This was up from 36 percent saying the same thing in 2022 so the trend is very clearly going up on distrust for the industry.
Past Legalization Attempts Have Failed
We should mention attempts at legalizing sports betting before 2026 because there’s a long history in Minnesota. Let’s start about a year ago.
DFL Sen. Matt Klein sponsored a bill in the chamber in early 2025 that would’ve expanded betting. This would’ve been widespread betting too — at casinos and via mobile apps. Klein’s bill also included some consumer protections. Things like bans on push notifications from gambling apps and limits on some betting promotions.
Klein thought he had bipartisan support to get the bill through. He didn’t. The bill failed to advance through its own committee, thus never seeing the light of day in the Senate.
For what it’s worth, Minnesota voters seem to be in favor of legalization. Back in 2022, the Minnesota Star Tribune found that 48 percent of voters they polled wanted legalized sports betting. In comparison, only 33 percent said no.
Admittedly, that poll is more than three years old by now. And as we mentioned, the public is slowly turning against the betting industry. So who’s to say these numbers would be the same in 2026? Most likely not.
The Key To Getting Legalized In Minnesota
There are early plans to get a new bill drafted in 2026. Rep. Nolan West has already said he plans to introduce a brand-new proposal in 2026.
“Everybody’s really dug in on the issue so we got basically zero movement last year,” he said. “I plan on attempting again, but if nobody has decided to actually enter into negotiations, of course, nothing’s going to happen.”
In our opinion, Minnesota will need more support than just its lawmakers. This isn’t a siloed decision by any means. Also existing in the state are Native American-owned casinos, horse racing tracks, local pro sports teams — all of whom want a “seat at the table.”
Perhaps the hardest to please will be the tribes. In many states, the tribes have sole rights to offer sports betting due to existing compacts they have with the state. Minnesota has those too, as only tribes can offer casino betting — there are over 20 such casinos right now.
If any bill even proposes bringing commercial apps to compete with those tribes for sports gambling, then we doubt anything passes. Many tribes donate money to local politicians and supporting such a bill would get those donations yanked. It’s a risk we doubt many Minnesota politicians want to take. If so, that would dim the chances of legalizing — unless the tribes have full control.
