A brief letter from a significant player in the world of legal gaming has altered the politics around the problem of sports gambling in Minnesota. At least for today.
Last week, Charles Vig, the chair of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association, composed Gov. Tim Walz and the four legislative leaders to state the state’s gaming tribes weren’t interested in adding sports gambling to their offerings.
But he didn’t stop there. From the letter, Vig said the tribes will oppose passing of legislation to include Minnesota to the growing list of states with legalized sports gambling. “The Minnesota Indian Gaming Association continues to oppose the growth of off-reservation gambling, including the legalization of sport gambling,” he wrote.
The seven casino-owning tribes at Minnesota join a group of allies in opposing sports betting statements this year, including groups such as Citizens Against Gambling Expansion, which concerns about the ill effects of gaming, such as dependency.
The tribes do not possess a veto over non-tribal gambling, but their voices are powerful, especially among DFLers like Gov. Tim Walz and the new House majority. Under federal law, states must bargain in good faith to permit tribes to offer the same kinds of gambling that is legal off-reservation.
Until a U.S. Supreme Court decision last spring cleared the way for countries to offer sports betting like what is lawful in Nevada casino sports books, that law wasn’t an issue in Minnesota. Now it is. With a 6-3 majority, the court ruled in Murphy v. NCAA that Congress exceeded its power by preventing states from legalizing and regulating sports gambling. The case had been brought by New Jersey, which desired to give an increase to its struggling Atlantic City casinos, and had attempted a set of legal moves to end the federal ban against sports gambling in all states except Nevada.
From the vast majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito, Jr. wrote that Congress has the ability to pass laws to regulate sports gambling itself. However, if it decides not to, then each state is free to do so, and many have done exactly that.
A draft bill circulated in the Minnesota capitol at the conclusion of this 2018 session however no formal invoice was filed and no hearings were held. Supporters of the legislation, headed by Sen. Roger Chamberlain, R-Blaine, have been preparing a bill for this session,.
Chamberlain, who is chair of the Senate Taxes Committee, was surprised and a bit disappointed in the tribes’ place, which he found out about through Twitter. “We met with them and while they’re not necessarily in alignment they’re clearly concerned about losing their economic foundation, the economic engine,” Chamberlain said. “We understand that. We have reassured them that we are not interested in harming that interest or jeopardizing tribal compacts.”
State Sen. Roger Chamberlain
Courtesy of Senate Media Services
State Sen. Roger Chamberlain, R-Blaine, stated mobile gambling must be part of this state law because that is where much of the gambling action is.
But Chamberlain said he is optimistic that it remains subject to negotiations, and he said he thinks it might be a win for the state, the tribes and for non-tribal gambling. “There is no reason to shut out the remainder of the country and the remainder of the potential consumers and players and operators from taking part in a totally safe and legal business,” he explained. “We hope to get to a place where everyone can agree and I think we can.”
While it seems clear that tribes would be able to give sports gambling in their own casinos if it’s made legal for non-tribal gambling, legal advisors note that sports gambling sets up some tough choices for tribes. The first issue is that gambling on sports — about the results of games, on scores and other outcomes — is not especially rewarding for casinos. The other is that under national law, tribes can only offer gambling over the boundaries of reservations. That makes the most-promising aspect of sports gambling — remote betting online or via mobile devices — might be off limits to them, but to not non-tribal sports novels.
Chamberlain said cellular betting must be a part of this state law since that’s where much of the gambling action is. Part of the rationale for legalizing it state by state is to catch a few of the stakes made illegally.
“In this economy and culture you need mobile access to become profitable,” Chamberlain said.
Online betting would likewise make gambling available in rural and remote areas of the country that might not have casinos or industrial sports books nearby. 1 possible solution for those tribes is to declare that the gaming takes place not where a player’s phone is, but where the computer server that processes the wager is situated. That’s far from resolved law, nevertheless.
“We can find our way round those problems and do it,” Chamberlain said.
Vig is chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota, which possesses the Mystic Lake and Little Seven casinos, did not shut the door on eventual tribal interest in sport betting. He did, however, ask the country to move gradually.
“While there is a desire by some to look at this matter during the current session, it appears that the general public interest would be best served first by careful study of sports gambling’s implications in this state, examination of other states’ experiences where sports betting gambling has been legalized, and thorough consultation with the large number of stakeholders interested in it,” Vig wrote.
A spokesman for the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association said pioneers were not available for interviews and that Vig’s letter would be their sole statement on the problem.
State Rep. Laurie Halverson
State Rep. Laurie Halverson
The chair of the home committee that would consider any sports gambling statements said the tribal institution’s letter does not alter her position on the problem. Rep. Laurie Halverson, DFL-Eagan, stated there are still no sponsors in her caucus pushing a bill. Ever before the tribes left their position known, Halverson stated she intended to be careful and deliberate on the topic.
“I have yet to watch language or possess whatever introduced,” she said.
But she expects laws will surface, and she wants to possess at least an information hearing so lawmakers will understand the impacts and hear from both backers and opponents. “I believe we’re all in learning style,” she explained. “When something is this brand new, that’s the legislative model generally. Things take time and we need to be deliberative about these significant changes to Minnesota law.”
At a press conference Wednesday,” Walz said his basic position on the issue is to legalize and regulate. But he explained that should come only after a process of hearings and debate. “I expect adults to make adult decisions,” he said of gambling. “I also recognize that dependence comes in many forms, whether that be alcohol, tobacco or cannabis or sports betting and those can have social consequences that are pretty devastating.
“When the Legislature chooses to take up that, we are definitely interested in working together to make it right,” Walz said.
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