Purpose

• Establishes a framework to authorize and regulate mobile sports betting in Minnesota.
• Aims to ensure betting is fair, lawful, responsible, transparent, and protective of public safety and welfare.
• Creates licensing, taxation, penalties, consumer protections, and research requirements related to sports wagering.

Key Provisions and What the Bill Seeks to accomplish

• Regulatory authority and rulemaking
  • The commissioner is given broad powers to regulate mobile sports betting, including how wagers are placed and payouts are remitted, how betting lines are communicated, how revenue is calculated, the record and data standards, and testing/auditing requirements for licensees.
  • Rules cover licensing for mobile sports betting operators, platform providers, and sports wagering suppliers, including background checks, financial disclosures, data security, bonding, and inspections.
  • Rules must address responsible gambling practices, prevention of betting by unauthorized or disqualified individuals, and specific coverage of marketing and advertising standards.
  • Sports governing bodies can request restrictions on certain events or wager types if integrity concerns arise, with a process for notice, response, and potential provisional actions.
• Advertising and marketing controls
  • All ads must include the 1800GAMBLER hotline and warnings about potential addiction and financial harm.
  • Prohibits targeting or advertising to individuals under 21, including prohibition on images or messages that appeal to under-21 audiences or on platforms with a high under-21 audience.
  • Bans endorsements or partnerships with amateur athletes in Minnesota.
  • Restrictions on advertising in or near K-12 schools, college campuses (with exceptions for general audiences or responsible gambling education content), and college-owned media assets.
  • Requires clear disclosure of terms for promotions and prevents risk-free marketing that relies on players risking their own funds.
• Personal limits and self-exclusion
  • Mobile sports betting accounts must offer self-imposed limits and self-exclusion options for time spent, money deposited, and losses.
  • Default limits are specified (loss limits, deposit limits, cooling-off period) with a mechanism to adjust limits, which take effect immediately if made more restrictive and after a notice period if made less restrictive.
  • Annual prompts to review limits; cooling-off periods can pause wagering, with cross-operator exclusions synchronized to enforce limits across all Minnesota operators.
  • Operators must report exclusions to the commissioner and ensure cross-operator exclusion enforcement.
• Push notifications and user communications
  • Prohibits push notifications from active apps to users unless related to fraud alerts, responsible gaming, or identity verification.
• Exclusion list and prohibited wagers
  • Creates an exclusion list maintained by the commissioner, including individuals who request to be excluded, guardians acting on behalf of someone, operators for good cause, or sports governing bodies.
  • Excludes certain people (athletes, coaches, referees, health care providers, team employees, or anyone with access to insider information or authority to influence outcomes) from wagering.
  • Prohibits operators from accepting wagers from those on the exclusion list; violations can result in license penalties.
  • Restrictions on advertising to or engaging with excluded individuals.
• Studies and reporting
  • Baseline study on gambling activity in Minnesota before sports betting starts, followed by updates every three years to track prevalence and problem gambling.
  • Separate study on the impact of sports betting on problem gambling, gambling disorders, youth gambling, and suicide risk, drawing on available research from other jurisdictions.
  • Ongoing review of other states’ restrictions and safeguards to improve Minnesota’s framework; annual reporting with advisable restrictions and potential draft legislation.
• Other notable provisions
  • Applies to various Minnesota Statutes 2024 sections and proposes new or amended sections to support the regulatory framework.
  • Includes general, clarifying, conforming, and technical changes as part of implementing new law related to sports betting and related gambling activities.

Significant Changes to Existing Law (highlights)

• Creates a comprehensive regulatory regime for mobile sports betting, replacing or supplementing current gambling statutes with new licensing, rulemaking, and supervisory mechanisms.
• Adds strong consumer protections focused on problem gambling, including mandatory a helpline (National Council on Problem Gambling-based), exclusion mechanisms, and monitoring of wagering patterns.
• Introduces mandatory advertising restrictions and responsible marketing practices aimed at preventing under-21 exposure and misrepresentation of sports betting.
• Establishes a cross-operator exclusion framework to consistently enforce self-exclusion measures across all licensed Minnesota operators and platforms.
• Requires ongoing research and inter-state comparisons to inform future policy and safeguards.

Terminology and Concepts Highlight (key terms you’ll see in the bill)

• mobile sports betting, sports wagering, wagering, wagers
• commissioner (state regulator), licenses (mobile sports betting operator license, platform provider license, sports wagering supplier license)
• platform providers, licensed operators, sports wagering suppliers
• rules, rulemaking, standards, audits, testing, background checks, financial disclosure, data security
• problem gambling, compulsive gambling, gambling disorder
• 1800GAMBLER, helpline, National Council on Problem Gambling
• exclusions, exclusion list, self-exclusion, cooling-off period, limits (deposit, loss, wager, time), cross-operator restrictions
• advertising and marketing restrictions, under-21 prohibition, targeting, endorsements, amateur athletes, sponsored partnerships
• prohibited wagers, integrity, sports governing bodies, events, and types of wagers
• baseline study, gambling prevalence, youth gambling, suicide risk, related research
• reporting and monitoring, cross-state review, safeguards
• push notifications, notification restrictions, identity verification

Relevant Terms - mobile sports betting - commissioner - licenses (operator, platform provider, supplier) - problem gambling, cooling-off, exclusions, self-exclusion - 1800GAMBLER - advertising restrictions, under-21 prohibitions - sports governing bodies - baseline study, prevalence, youth gambling, suicide - cross-operator enforcement - data security and audits

Note: The provided text ends with a reference to Sec. 9, but does not include the full details of that section. The summary covers all material sections available in the excerpt.