Minnesota Senate Passes Prediction Markets and Sweepstakes Casino Bans

The Minnesota State Senate passed two bills on April 30 that would criminalise prediction markets and ban dual-currency sweepstakes casino platforms operating in the state, sending both measures to the House with less than three weeks left in the legislative session.

Prediction Markets Voted a Felony

Senate File 4511 passed 56-10. The bill, presented by Senator John Marty, DFL-Roseville, defines a prediction market as any system that allows consumers to place a wager on the future outcome of a specified event not determined by the performance of the parties to the contract. Under the legislation, offering, operating, or advertising any product meeting that definition would constitute a felony.

The prohibited categories are broad. Bets on athletic events, player statistics, casino-style games, elections, government conduct, wars, deaths, natural disasters, court proceedings, short-term weather, pop culture outcomes, and statements made by named individuals would all be covered. Advertising restrictions extend to promotion during live sports broadcasts, daytime and evening television programmes, and channels where the majority of the audience is under 21. Criminal provisions, if enacted, would take effect August 1, 2026.

Violations would carry a prohibition of up to 10 years on obtaining gaming-related licences in Minnesota.

Senator Marty framed the measure in terms of systemic risk rather than consumer protection alone.

“I’m concerned because of the addictive nature of gambling and how many people are going to be doing it. It shows that people of both parties, people who are pro-gambling and anti-gambling together, can recognise that the prediction markets are ripe for conflict of interest, things like insider trading for politicians, for others. It’s a huge thing ripe for scandal. And it’s gone out of control.”

Senator Jordan Rasmusson, a co-author of the bill, was more direct.

“We are seeing the rapid expansion of these prediction markets; we are seeing an expansion of corruption that follows.”

The bill’s passage came seven days after Senator Matt Klein, DFL-Mendota Heights, was found to have placed a wager on the prediction market platform Kalshi on his own primary race. Klein had originally been the chief author of SF 4511; he is now listed as a co-author. In a statement, Klein said he had been informed of the violation by the platform in March 2026, paid a penalty, and agreed to a suspension.

The bill preserves carve-outs for insurance contracts, commodity futures, bingo, horse racing, state lottery tickets, and private social bets.

Sweepstakes Casino Ban

Senate File 4474 passed by a wider margin, 62-3. The bill targets dual-currency online sweepstakes platforms, defining them as internet or mobile products that simulate casino-style gambling using a two-currency payment structure.

The scope of liability is wide. Financial institutions, payment processors, geolocation providers, gaming content suppliers, platform providers, and media affiliates would all be prohibited from supporting sweepstakes operators in Minnesota. Offering or promoting sweepstakes gaming under the bill would be a felony. Enforcement authority is assigned to the Commissioner of Public Safety and the Minnesota Attorney General.

The legislation follows direct state action already taken in this space. In November 2025, Attorney General Keith Ellison issued cease-and-desist orders to 14 online gambling companies operating sweepstakes-style products in the state. Minnesota is part of a broader wave of state-level action on this model — earlier this year, <a href="https://epicwins.io/2026/02/19/indiana-anti-sweepstakes-bill-passes-with-poker-exemption/”>Indiana passed its own anti-sweepstakes bill, and several other states have introduced similar restrictions on dual-currency platforms operating outside licensed gambling frameworks.

House Timeline

Both bills now move to the Minnesota House of Representatives. The current legislative session is scheduled to close on May 18. The House has parallel versions on file — HF 4410 tied to SF 4474 and HF 4436 tied to SF 4511 — though neither has progressed significantly. If the House passes the Senate-approved versions without amendment, the bills go directly to the governor. Any changes would require a conference committee, complicating the path to enactment before the session ends.

The Minnesota vote adds to a growing list of state-level actions on prediction markets across the US. <a href="https://epicwins.io/2026/02/09/us-gambling-legislation-2026-expansion-crackdowns-update/”>Several states have moved to restrict or classify prediction market products in 2026, as the sector’s rapid expansion has drawn attention from both gaming regulators and legislators with no prior connection to gambling policy.

Source: Minnesota State Senate