The NCAA basketball tournaments begin this week. Why can’t Minnesotans bet on March Madness?

It’s that time of year. No, not quite spring.

It’s madness. March Madness.

And as college basketball fans prepare for the highs, lows, upsets and general mayhem of the annual NCAA basketball tournament, fans across the country will open their phones to place bets on their favorite teams.

But not in Minnesota.

The state — one of just a few holdouts that hasn’t legalized sports betting since the U.S. Supreme Court opened that door in 2018 — has discussed allowing gambling on games over the past few years. But legislation has stalled again and again in the State Capitol.

Here’s where sports gambling legalization stands.

Sports betting is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C., including 33 that allow online gaming, according to the American Gaming Association. Missouri voters passed a ballot measure authorizing sports betting last fall, but gaming has not yet launched there. That leaves Minnesota, Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah as the holdouts.

It’s unclear.

A Minnesota Senate committee last month voted 6-6 on legislation sponsored by Sen. Matt Klein, DFL-Mendota Heights, to authorize sports betting for those age 21 and older. Lacking a majority, the bill didn’t move forward.

The committee also tabled a bill featuring sports betting legalization with more restrictions, sponsored by Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville.

Sen. Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, is also sponsoring legislation to legalize sports gaming. He said in an email he hears about the issue consistently from constituents, and it’s a top priority for him.

“We made tremendous progress last session bringing together stakeholders and legislators from both sides of the aisle,” he said, “and I’m hoping this momentum carries us across the finish line this session.”

Efforts to legalize sports betting made it out of a Senate committee in 2023, but didn’t pass the chamber. No bill made it out of committee in the House that year.

Last year, a group of lawmakers were prepared to launch a filibuster to block sports betting legislation if it came up on the Senate floor in the waning hours of the legislative session.

Minnesota’s professional sports teams — the Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves, Lynx, Wild and United — submitted written testimony in support of Klein’s bill, saying it would allow sports betting “in a responsible way that will create a vibrant Minnesota market while providing important consumer protections for Minnesotans.”

Klein’s bill also had the backing of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association, which represents nine of the 11 tribal nations in the state. The bill would offer licenses to the tribes to operate mobile sports betting apps.

Canterbury Park, one of the state’s two horse tracks, also supported the bill, which would offer a cut of the proceeds from sports betting to the racing industry. Horse racing offers the only legal form of sports betting in Minnesota now.

In the hearing last month, Klein called his legislation the “safest sports wagering bill in the nation” and noted it dedicates proceeds to help combat gambling addiction.

“To those of you who are deeply concerned about social fallout and family devastation,” he said, “let me suggest that sports wagering is already flourishing and growing in Minnesota through unregulated offshore platforms with no protections for problem or underage use and no revenue to combat those activities. This bill would address that practice.”

Most of the opposition in the February committee hearing came from lawmakers and organizations concerned about gambling addiction.

Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, noted Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota offer sports betting — but only at casinos. She said she would support in-person gambling, but that Klein’s legislation didn’t offer enough protections to combat addiction.

“When it is in your pocket connected to your bank account...you can gamble, under this bill, from the bed, from the carpool lane, from the boardroom, from the shower,” Maye Quade said.

“We can cut taxes for charitable organizations and not do this stuff,” Drazkowski said.

All of Minnesota’s neighboring states allow sports betting. While North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin only allow sports gambling at casinos, Iowa allows mobile sports betting.