Is Online Betting Legal in Minnesota?

No online sports betting is not legal in Minnesota.

With 39 U.S. states now having some form of legalized sports betting (Missouri, the most recent to pass legislation, will go live sometime late in 2025), there are only a handful of states remaining in which sports betting is illegal in the United States. That doesn’t mean that people aren’t betting in those states, including Texas, California, Georgia and Minnesota, it just means that they’re doing so illegally – either through a neighborhood bookie or an offshore illegal website.

Of the 11 remaining states, Minnesota is one that had gotten closest to legalizing sports betting in 2024 before a potential bill fell apart before the legislative session ended back in May.

In this article, we’ll look at how close Minnesota is to sports betting legalization, and if there is a chance that it legalizes sports betting in 2025.

When will sports betting be legal in minnesota?

Legalizing sports betting has been discussed for several years in Minnesota, but part of the difficulty in passing a bill is that there are many different interested parties and a strong Tribal presence in the state.

There was pushback from horse tracks in the 2024 legislative session towards the potential bill and Dem. Zack Stephenson posted on X back on May 19, “We're going to come up just short on the sports betting bill this year. But in the last few days we proved that we could find a deal that all the major stakeholders could live with. Tribes, tracks, charities... That's meaningful progress that can be a foundation for the future.”

With neighboring states like Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota only offering legalized sports betting at Tribal casinos or commercial casinos, there exists an opportunity for Minnesota (outside of Iowa) to pass a mobile sports betting bill and capture sports betting dollars from several states, not just its own.

At the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas back in October, Minnesota Indian Gaming Association executive director Andy Platto said stakeholders in the state have agreed on the framework of sports betting legislation – however, he wasn’t sure if there were the votes to pass it.

Last month, Running Aces, one of the Minnesota horse racing tracks that was opposing the 2024 sports betting bill, sent a message to the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association, coming out in favor of sports betting:

“Running Aces understands the importance of tribal gaming in Minnesota and the economic support that it provides to each of the sovereign tribal nations in this state. We also believe that racetracks, tribal casinos and charitable gaming all provide important and distinct benefits to the communities we each serve and broad benefits to all Minnesotans. Minnesota has demonstrated that all three types of gaming can be successful. We believe it is possible to work through any disagreements and arrive at successful compromises. We are hopeful that legislators and the gaming industry can all work together to ensure passage of a bill that benefits all three of these entities and the communities they serve …We stand ready to do what we believe is in the best interests of the horse racing industry, employees and shareholders and provide our full support to a sports betting bill that accomplishes this goal.”

2025 Minnesota Legal Betting Update

At the end of 2024 Rep. Senator Jeremy Miller posted on X that he is ready to get a sports betting bill passed in 2025:

It’s time to get a sports betting bill passed here in Minnesota. Let’s work together and get it done! pic.twitter.com/TePloqFD89
— Jeremy Miller (@jeremyrmiller) November 7, 2024

After November's election - Minnesota has a Democratic governor, the Senate is split, but the Republicans have the House. If Miller can meet Dem. representative Stephenson, somewhere in the middle on whether horse racing tracks should be included, then Minnesota could have sports betting as early as this year.

What Sports Betting Apps Are Legal in Minnesota?

If you live in Minnesota and want to place a legal wager on your favorite sport - try one of the DFS sites below! Daily Fantasy provides bettors with a safe alternative to offshore sportsbooks, with the same adrenaline rush you get from having some skin in the game.