The Minnesota Gambling Control Board recently released its annual summary of the charitable gambling industry, which indicated electronic pull-tab sales increased from $200 million in fiscal 2017 to $360 million in fiscal 2018—a jump of 80 percent. Gambling board Executive Director Tom Barrett said, “All forms of charitable gaming have increased, but biggest is the electronic pull tabs. I know we started rough in those early years, but now, when you look at the chart, it’s really climbing, and it’s still in less than 40 percent of all the charitable gaming sites in Minnesota.”
Electronic pull tabs debuted in 2012 as a way to pay for the U.S. Bank Stadium. Before they were introduced, supporters estimated they would generate about $100 a day in gambling proceeds, but they averaged only $2 a day for more than a year. Early versions of the games were unsuccessful because there weren’t many machines to play and the games rarely changed so players got bored. But over the past six years, the public became more comfortable with the technology and more venues began offering the new games, typically played on Apple iPads. Now electronic pull tabs could pay off the stadium mortgage early, saving the state money that would have gone toward interest payments. Minnesota Department of Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans said, “I think it’s 2022 or 2023 is the first year we could start paying the construction bonds off early.”
Pilot Games controls about 90 percent of Minnesota’s e-pull tab market. The games are offered in slightly more than one-third of the state’s 2,700 charitable gambling sites, so there’s room for continued expansion, Barrett said. He noted new games have been offered since sports betting became legal.
The Gambling Control Board report also indicated the charitable gambling industry—which includes bingo, paddlewheels, pull-tabs, raffles and tipboards–topped $2 billion in sales for the first time ever, with $1.6 billion of that paid out in prizes.
The report showed compared to 82 percent in fiscal 2017, sales of paper pull-tabs in fiscal 2018 declined to 75 percent of the total charitable gambling market. However, Barrett said, sales still were up 6.8 percent year over year. “So, I don’t know if it’s a case of the players try the electronics, go to the paper, go to the electronics, back and forth. We expected to see somewhat of a drop in paper sales, and that’s not happening,” he said.
The report also showed sales of electronic linked bingo–also authorized by the Vikings stadium bill– more than doubled in just the last year, from $7.2 million to $15.4 million. Sports tipboards, which the stadium bill also allowed, also
Sports tipboard bets also increased from $6,000 in August to $543,000 in September. Tipboards were approved under the stadium bill, but they weren’t actually authorized until sports betting was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court in May and by the Minnesota legislature this fall.
