When the U.S Supreme Court repealed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018, dozens of states rushed to regulate sports betting.
Yet, despite historically being a state relatively accepting of gambling, Minnesota did not.
In fact, as of right now, sports betting is still illegal in the North Star state. It’s a shame in particular for Minnesota United fans. Their Major League arrival in 2017 made Minnesota very much an MLS state, and most other states with MLS teams do allow sports betting in one way or another.
So why has Minnesota bucked the trend and decided to stay out of the regulated betting landscape? The answer is not that simple.
A Brief History of Gambling in Minnesota
Like many states, Minnesota’s relationship with gambling was built one step at a time over many years, and the tribal casinos played a huge part in it.
It started in 1945 with the acceptance of charitable gambling. Before that, all gambling was illegal, although it wasn’t tightly policed.
Then in the 1970s, pull-tabs became popular, although still as a charitable endeavour. You would buy them at bars and such like, and they remain something of a state institution even today.
In the 1980s pari-mutuel betting on the horses was introduced, but it didn’t qualify as sports betting because punters weren’t betting against the house, they were betting against each other. A state lottery was also signed off a few years later.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988 is what really altered the landscape. It created the federal framework for tribal gaming, which included the requirement that Class III casino-style gaming (the category sports betting falls into) must be conducted under a tribal–state compact. This becomes important later on.
Minnesota was early in negotiating these tribal compacts, the very first state to do so in fact, and the state’s 11 tribes now run 21 casinos, giving them near exclusivity there when it comes to gambling. Unbanked card games were allowed at racetracks outside of tribal reservations, but these are a very small piece of the picture.
Why Sports Betting Is Still Illegal
Given Minnesota’s haste in arranging tribal compacts, you might well wonder why they are dragging their feet when it comes to sports betting.
Well, it’s not because the state don’t want to legalize it – they have tried and failed several times and the public support the idea. It’s down to the nitty gritty of who gets the right to provide it. Essentially, every serious proposal so far has created winners and losers, and then losers have had enough political leverage to stop the bill.
Sports betting is treated as Class III gaming as I mentioned earlier, and in Minnesota, all Class III gambling is conducted by tribes under state compacts. The 11 tribes in the state therefore see sports betting as an extension of what they are already offering and think they should be the ones to offer it.
This means the race tracks are locked out, and they don’t like it. They already offer pari-mutuel betting and limited card games, but are explicitly excluded from casino style gaming. However, they argue that sports betting is a natural extension of what they already do, and they should be included.
Add into this the charitable gambling sector worried about losing revenue and a handful of lawmakers who actively oppose gambling, and you have just enough votes to stop a bill at the final hurdle.
Will It Ever Be Legalized?
You would think, given the number of times lawmakers have tried and failed, that a bill will get through eventually. It will just require a lot of negotiation and potentially leave some people very unhappy in the end.
A 2024 Bill advanced through committees before it became apparent it wouldn’t clear the House. Another Bill failed to get off the ground in 2025.
Despite this, thousands of Minnesotans are making bets regardless on unregulated apps, which is not safe, so the state will want to see the matter resolved. They have to protect their citizens, and of course, they are missing out on tax dollars.
It’s likely that betting platforms will end up pairing with existing tribal casinos and perhaps racetracks too eventually, but exactly how long that will take is anyone’s guess.
MLS Teams in Minnesota
Minnesota United existed as a club since 2010, seven years before it became an MLS expansion team in 2017. It played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) back then. However, the Loons, as they are known, are now well established as an MLS team.
They haven’t done particularly well since joining Major League Soccer – the closest they came to a trophy was finishing as runners up in the 2019 US Open Cup – but they consistently make it into the playoffs.
The next biggest professional soccer club is probably Minneapolis City SC, also based in Minneapolis as the name suggests, but soccer is popular across the whole state. Youth and grassroots level teams are abundant, and MNUFC regularly plays to capacity crowds at Allianz Field, with Loons fans being notorious for the strength of their support.
This explains the appetite for MLS betting in Minnesota, and why so many choose to do so on unregulated platforms regardless of state laws.