North Dakota sports betting push falls flat in Senate
Sioux State officials vote down legislation that would have seen sports betting legalization passed to statewide vote in 2024
A potential vote on the legalization of sports betting in North Dakota was quashed by the Sioux State’s Senate on Monday following the voting down of enabling legislation.
House Concurrent Resolution 3002, authored by Representative Greg Stemen, was overturned by a vote of 16-30 in the North Dakota Senate.
The resolution would have obligated the legislature to authorize, license, and regulate sports betting if a statewide referendum had shown popular support. Similar legislation was tabled and ultimately voted down in 2021.
Had HCR 3002 passed, the referendum would have taken place in November 2024. Advocates for the resolution had suggested it would be vital to ensure sports betting revenues stay within the state.
In March, senators dismissed amendments made by the Senate Judiciary Committee to remove the requirement to authorize sports betting, turning it into a non-binding allowance, with only professional sports authorized.
North Dakota’s House of Representatives voted through the legislation in January by a vote of 49-44 after dismissing similar amendments to those later reintroduced at a Senate level.
In February, the Senate voted down a bill to create an online sports betting task force, as well as an implementation plan for legislation, regulation, and licensing of operators in the state.
The only online sports betting currently permitted in North Dakota is run exclusively through a number of tribal operators, with those bets limited to the physical geographical? boundaries of tribal reservations.
Five tribes operate 13 tribal gaming locations in the state.
According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), data provided in support of HCR 3002 revealed as many as 138,000 North Dakotans bet more than $300m annually, including $30m in bets made using offshore illegal sportsbooks.