Minnesota AG cracks down on 14 illegal sports betting, casino sites

While the state’s lawmakers remain divided on legalising sports betting, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is sending cease-and-desist letters to offshore sportsbooks and iCasino sites.

In a rare Midwestern state yet to legalise sports betting, Minnesota’s attorney general is cracking down on unregulated gambling.

On Wednesday Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that he has sent cease-and-desist letters to 14 illegal gambling websites. The sites targeted include offshore sports betting and casino operators as well as dual-currency sweepstakes operators.

“Online platforms offering sportsbooks and casino games run by out-of-state and overseas operators may make it look as though online gambling is legal and safe in Minnesota, but let me be clear: it is not,” Ellison said in a release.

“Trying to rebrand poker chips as virtual currencies does not change the fact that these online gambling operations are unlawful. By continuing to operate online gambling sites in Minnesota, these operators are likely openly defying our state’s laws and I will not stand for it.”

Ellison’s letters were sent to:

BetAnySports

BetNow

BetOnline

BetUS

BetWhale

Bovada

EveryGame Sportsbook

Fortune Coins

MyBookie.com

Slotsandcasino

Sportsbetting.com

VG Luckyland

XBet

Zula Casino

Law enforcement sent letters this summer

According to the release, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division sent letters to the same 14 operators in June.

Those letters alerted the sites to potential legal violations, but Ellison said they have continued their operations. Along with the previously mentioned criminal violations, Ellison’s letters highlighted civil consumer protection laws the sites might violate.

“Illegal online casinos and sweepstakes sites make big promises but deliver only risk to Minnesota consumers,” Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson said in the release. “Most are based outside the United States to avoid laws, regulation and enforcement measures. There’s no accountability, no protection for players and no way to know if the betting will be run fairly.”

Minnesota sports betting legislative attempts

Minnesota lawmakers have repeatedly introduced sports betting legislation and were reportedly close to a bipartisan deal with every stakeholder on board as the 2024 session ended.

Despite the 2025 session beginning with a similar deal essentially in place, a bipartisan group of legislators against sports betting solidified and prevented passage of a bill sponsored by Senator Matt Klein this year. The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing in January that focused on the harms of sports betting.

Klein, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, said this year that lawmakers are “abandoning” Minnesotans and the state’s 11 tribes by failing to act. The DFL and Republicans have been at odds in their support for various gambling industry stakeholders. The DFL supports tribal exclusivity, while the Republicans want to include the state’s horse racing tracks as part of sports betting operations. The deal in place had the various stakeholders in agreement before the opposition reared its head this year.

Heading into 2026, Minnesota still might be the best shot for a state without legal sports betting to pass some form of legislation, according to multiple industry sources. One source put the odds at 50-50.

Unregulated sportsbook crackdowns continue

Multiple state legislatures passed sweepstakes prohibition bills this session, including California, Connecticut, Montana and New Jersey. California accounted for an estimated 20% of US revenue for sweepstakes companies, according to panellists at the Global Gaming Expo last month.

Lawmakers in Louisiana and New York also passed similar legislation. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has yet to sign S5935, but New York Attorney General Letitia James sent 26 cease-and-desist letters to sweepstakes operators this summer.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry vetoed his state’s bill while stating that regulators already had the power to enforce gambling laws. The Louisiana Gaming Control Board then sent 40 cease-and-desist letters to unregulated operators, including sweepstakes sites.

Other states including Maryland, Michigan and Arizona have also taken significant action against sweepstakes operators.