Minnesota Charities Need Clarity on Sports Betting Bill

Minnesota is moving towards legalising sports betting both bricks and mortar along with mobile with sponsor of the bill Rep. Zack Stephenson saying that traditional opposition from native tribes in the state were changing their minds on the proposed legislation.

Stephenson said that “he is confident that Native American tribes will drop their longstanding opposition and let it become law because it would put them in control.” He said that he had met with tribal leaders over recent months and would not be pushing the bill unless he believed that the tribes were coming on board to the idea of sports betting.

Tribes have always been concerned before that the introduction of sports betting would reduce their casino incomes however it is stated now that this is not the case now and would put the tribes on a positive footing with tribal casino keeping all the profits from their casino based sports betting lounges and would have 5% of all bets placed on mobile devices.

The state would only keep 10% of all mobile sports betting profits in taxes, with estimates this could reach $20 million, those taxes received would be split into charitable good causes.

However the new bill is concerning to Minnesota’s charities, veterans’ clubs, bars and restaurants which run charity focused electronic pull tab games within their venues.

 “Proposed changes to Minnesota’s gaming landscape hold significant consequences for our state’s charities and small businesses,” said Samuel Krueger, executive director, Electronic Gaming Group. “To that end, there are a number of steps our elected leaders must take to protect our state’s charities, veterans’ clubs, bars and restaurants.”

To protect those organisations and their charity focus it is recommended by the Electronic Gaming Group (EGG) the following measures:

• Protection of charitable gaming. The interests of charitable gaming as it relates to the passage of any sports betting legislation must be protected. Electronic gaming in Minnesota includes e-pull tabs, electronic tip boards, and electronic bingo.
• Inclusion of charitable gaming representatives. Charitable gaming representatives are included in all discussions pertaining to the legalization of sports betting in Minnesota.
• Strengthening of sports-themed tip boards. Existing sports-themed tip boards at bars and restaurants are derived from the U.S. Bank Stadium deal. It is time to enhance these offerings with electronics, linkage, and the addition of electronic linked parlay cards.
• Permitting charitable gaming on mobile devices at a licensed location. Electronic forms of lawful charitable gambling products should be allowed to be played on personal mobile devices that are connected to secure site networks. Play on mobile devices is disabled once the player leaves the licensed bar, restaurant or veterans’ club premises.

Jon Weaver, President, Pilot Games, one of the largest operator of electronic pull tab gaming in the state said on the new proposals: “ We are monitoring the proposal to expand tribal gambling to include sports wagering at bricks and mortar facilities as well as mobile gambling.  This proposed bill represents a significant change to the current gambling landscape.  While it will be up to the Legislature and Governor Walz to determine the best path forward for Minnesotans, we want to make sure that charities and their bar partners are not forgotten in the debate.  The low stakes, social forms of charitable sports gaming proposed by Electronic Gaming Group and regulated by the Gambling Control Board has Pilot Games’ full support.”