Legalized sports betting in Minnesota could potentially generate millions for casinos in the state.
But the casinos aren't the only ones waiting for the Legislature to take it up again this spring. So are the companies providing the backbone of the operations such as International Game Technology, or IGT, a London-based company behind lottery and casino gaming machines.
"It's something we talk to operators in Minnesota about when we see them, either if somebody goes up to Minnesota to see what's happening locally, or casino operators that travel to Las Vegas and we see them at industry conferences," said Joe Asher, IGT's president of sports betting.
As the industry consolidates, IGT has been adding steadily to its list of locations for its sports betting kiosks, particularly in the Upper Midwest.
This past summer, IGT became the new provider of sports betting systems at St. Croix Casinos in Turtle Lake and Danbury in Wisconsin. St. Croix is the first location for IGT's PeakBar Top machines, which have betting, poker and slot games all in one.
Sports betting legislation failed to pass this year, but Minnesota legislators are expected to consider it again in the 2024 session. If it becomes legal, sport book operators would join a maturing service industry that since 2018 has generated $22 billion of gross revenue on more than $265 billion in wages made nationwide.
IGT has deployed its PlaySports betting machines in 30 of the 35 states where betting is active and legal, along with Washington, D.C., including Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois. More than 1,000 of those machines, which Asher said are similar to check-in kiosks at airports, are active across the country.
Anecdotally, St. Croix Casino operators said their sports booking area "is doing much better since we've been there," Asher said. Calls made to St. Croix Casino management were not returned.