Minnesota Sports Betting: The Latest Updates and Challenges
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:03 - And Minnesota, I think is along the same lines here.
00:05 This has gone so many different directions, Pat.
00:08 We thought sports betting will be legal in 2023.
00:11 It was not.
00:12 We thought 2024.
00:13 It has not been.
00:14 I know that there is some backing.
00:16 Part of the argument I'm seeing here
00:18 from the articles that you guys have
00:20 on legalsportsreport.com come in terms of the tax rate.
00:25 How critical is that, you think,
00:27 in pushing this above and getting it done?
00:30 - Yeah, so first of all, you're right.
00:32 Politicking is crazy.
00:33 Things can just kind of change any day of the week
00:37 as people are doing the backroom deals
00:39 and hearing arguments and the like.
00:41 And we're seeing that, you know, again, Maryland, Georgia,
00:44 we're running down to the last minute here next week.
00:47 And it's still alive there.
00:49 Alabama, you know, that could slip back in.
00:51 But yeah, Minnesota, you're right.
00:53 IE Crow all the time.
00:54 Last year, I predicted they'd get it done.
00:56 They didn't.
00:57 They did carry over this year.
00:58 And now we're just kind of discussing things.
01:01 And it almost seems like they're throwing things
01:04 at the wall to see what sticks.
01:07 Right now, you know, we're at a negotiating table.
01:12 At first, it was just the tribes which have exclusivity
01:15 and the controlling Democrat Party
01:17 wants them to have exclusivity.
01:20 But because of opposition from both sides of the aisle,
01:22 you need the Republicans
01:24 and they really want the tracks to be represented.
01:26 Well, now we also had some things happen
01:29 in the legislature last year
01:30 that altered charitable gaming in the state.
01:33 If you've ever been to Minnesota, there's poll tabs,
01:36 you can buy and it's kind of like a little raffle thing.
01:39 And it greatly affected them negatively in that sense.
01:44 So now the charitable gaming organizations are at the table
01:48 saying, hey, we need money too,
01:50 to make up for what you did last year.
01:52 And if you're gonna do this and not give us access,
01:54 we need some tax relief.
01:56 And so there has been some, you know,
01:59 wheeling and dealing in the back rooms.
02:00 And so far, they're looking at giving them
02:03 up to $20 million a year from this,
02:07 from sports betting if it gets through,
02:09 which seems to have satisfied
02:11 the charitable gaming organizations.
02:13 Now, the whole question here is, how do the tracks feel?
02:17 Do they, you know, there was an amendment last week
02:20 that sent some extra uncapped tax revenue.
02:23 Last year, there was an amendment
02:24 that sent a capped $3 million a year to these tracks.
02:28 There's two horse tracks in Minnesota.
02:30 And now it's uncapped, so maybe that's enough,
02:34 but we've got Republican senators saying, no, we need more.
02:36 We need to make sure they're fully taken care of
02:38 'cause the horse racing industry
02:40 is struggling in Minnesota.
02:41 So if you're gonna expand gaming for the tribes only,
02:45 we need to make sure these Minnesota businesses are okay.
02:47 So it's really a big back and forth.
02:50 We've also got a Senate committee that it's now headed to
02:54 that a stipulation was put in to ensure
02:57 that the chairman would hear it.
03:00 And that's that whistle to whistle ban on in-game betting.
03:03 Well, the stakeholders, the tribes and sports books,
03:07 of course, don't like that.
03:08 That greatly affects the potential revenue.
03:11 So that could be a potential killer,
03:13 but maybe that's just a move to get it
03:15 through this committee and then we get to see there.
03:18 There's a house hearing on Thursday,
03:19 so we'll know more potentially then.
03:22 But yeah, it's all about making moves
03:24 to get some people on the side,
03:25 some people may not like those,
03:27 so then you have to appease them.
03:29 We'll see what happens in Minnesota.
03:30 It's always been a big stretch there,
03:33 but I'm still hopeful that something gets done.
03:35 And I think stakeholders are,
03:37 but industry proponents have not much to do left there
03:41 because it is just a discussion between the lawmakers
03:43 and these in-state parties about how to make it work.
03:47 (upbeat music)
03:49 (bells chiming)