Minnesota sports betting in 2026: what Timberwolves fans can use

Is sports betting legal in Minnesota? Not in 2026. There is no licensed sportsbook in the state, online or in person, and the Legislature's latest attempt to change that ended without a vote when the session adjourned in May. What Wolves fans can use this season is a federally regulated prediction market, and even that has been through a fight in court this year. Here is where things stand as of Oct. 28.

No sportsbook, online or retail

Minnesota law treats sports bookmaking as a felony (Minn. Stat. § 609.76). None of the major apps can take a customer located in the state, and the casinos run by Minnesota's 11 tribal nations do not offer sports betting. Gambling enforcement sits with the state Department of Public Safety.

That is not for lack of bills. Mobile betting proposals have been filed in session after session, most of them reserving the market for the tribes, which could run sportsbooks themselves or partner with national brands. In 2022 a bill passed the House and then stalled in the Senate. In 2025 a tribal-centered proposal failed on a tied committee vote. This year, Covers reported on Oct. 27, a hearing in April produced no vote, even though tribes, horse tracks and charitable gaming groups had reached a deal that preserves tribal exclusivity. Opposition from members of both parties has kept it from moving.

The election could reset the math

All 201 seats in the Legislature, 134 in the House and 67 in the Senate, are on the ballot on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The Senate is split 34-33 for the DFL, and the House stands at 67 DFL, 66 Republican with one vacancy, according to Covers. Whatever the result, the next real chance at legal sports betting is the 2027 session, and any law would still need time to be written into rules and licenses before an app could launch. Nothing changes for this NBA season.

Prediction markets: banned on paper, open in practice

In May, Gov. Tim Walz signed a law making it a felony to run or advertise a prediction market in Minnesota, starting Aug. 1. It was the first state law of its kind. The CFTC sued to stop it, and Kalshi and Polymarket US followed. Attorney General Keith Ellison's office defended the law, arguing that sports event contracts are gambling the state can regulate and that the platforms could simply block Minnesota users.

On July 27, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez blocked the law while the case goes on, finding the challengers likely to win on the argument that the federal Commodity Exchange Act preempts it, MPR News reported. She also said some individual contracts could later fall outside federal protection and that the order could be narrowed. Ellison called the platforms "gambling, plain and simple" and said the state would keep defending the law, Reason reported.

The result for a Wolves fan: Novig, Kalshi and Polymarket US are all available in Minnesota today. Novig is a CFTC-regulated exchange where you take a position on a game at a price set by other traders, and it is live in 47 states, every state except Arizona, Michigan and Nevada. The order is a preliminary one. If an appeals court or a final ruling goes the other way, the picture could change quickly, and this page will change with it.

What a Wolves fan can use tonight

Every Wolves game is priced on the board, Novig first, alongside the sportsbooks and the other exchanges. The sportsbook rows show where the wider market has a game; from Minnesota, you cannot take them. The Minnesota page prices this week's games only at the venues a fan in the state can open, and it carries the date we last checked the law. Prediction markets vs sportsbooks explains how the two kinds of venue arrive at a price.

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