Hardball with horse tracks as sports betting bill lingers
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A battle is brewing in the push to get legalized sports betting across the finish line in Minnesota.
The legislator pushing hardest to pass a bill this session seems to be playing hardball with the last big team opposing the bill.
The basic understanding at the Capitol is that to pass sports betting, legislators needed to reach some sort of agreement between tribes, horse tracks, and charitable gaming groups.
Horse tracks are the last opponents, but the House bill’s author is not exactly trying to get them a bigger piece of the pie.
His new sports betting bill debuted last week and turned up the volume on a dispute between its author and the horse tracks still opposing it.
Rep. Zack Stephenson’s bill banned historical horse racing where bettors put money on races that already happened, without knowing much about the race except a horse’s odds.
"I've deliberately left many options on the table and not drawn many red lines," said Rep. Stephenson, (DFL-Coon Rapids). "I'm drawing one right now. That will not happen."
The Minnesota Department of Revenue estimates sports betting could net the state $40 million a year in taxes. The current sports betting bill would give the horse tracks $625,000 to split every year.
Their allies say sports betting was already going to damage the tracks financially even before the historical horse racing ban.
"It seems like this is a really easy way to help make these other organizations whole, and it still doesn't make them whole," said Rep. Anne Neu Brindley (R-North Branch). "I mean, we've seen significant losses in other states.
And Rep. Stephenson’s newest bill gets its first committee hearing Monday. It bans electronic card games commonly seen at the tracks.
The CEO of Blaine’s Running Aces says it’ll decimate Minnesota’s horse racing industry.
"Rep. Zack Stephenson will stop at nothing in his efforts to destroy Running Aces," said Taro Ito.
Legislators who don’t like the idea of any gambling expansion have also joined the debate.
"I just think it's a bad idea in general," said Sen. Erin Maye Quade, (DFL-Apple Valley).
She points to Connecticut’s recently released study of its three-year-old sports betting industry. It found that 51% of all the bets came from the 1.8% of people who are labeled "problem gamblers."
"If we do decide to go down that road, then we need some really, really strong protections," said Sen. Maye Quade.
She suggests allowing sports betting, but no online gaming.
That leaves the same fundamental issue — "Who gets the money?"
If it’s only allowed in casinos, it's back to square one with the horse tracks and charitable gaming.
We could start to see where the cards will fall on Monday.