Minnesota Sports Betting: The Latest Updates and Challenges

SportsGrid

Watch Minnesota Sports Betting: The Latest Updates and Challenges - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

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)

Category

Transcript

Recommended