North Dakota's Tribal Path to Sports Betting
Technically, North Dakota first allowed sports betting back in 1979 - "technically," because the maximum wager was just $5, and the small-time operations mostly were run by non-profit organizations. But like lawmakers in several other states, North Dakota legislators elected not to test the constitutionality of PASPA in the courts - leaving it to New Jersey to take on the challenge beginning in 2012.
In March 2013, North Dakota's five tribes negotiated a new compact with the state that authorized sports betting should the federal government ever allow it.
So when the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2018 invalidated the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992, there was no legislative negotiating necessary.
In December 2021, the Dakota Magic Casino & Hotel offered the first sports betting wager. The following year, tribal leaders made a request to Gov. Doug Burgum to offer online sports betting across the state - to no avail.
Lawmakers also have made multiple efforts to allow for sports betting beyond the tribal casinos, but in January 2025 such a proposal once again was defeated, by a 70-24 vote in the state House of Representatives.
In January 2024, several tribal casinos in the state lowered their minimum age for gambling from age 21 to age 19.
Casinos in North Dakota
On July 16, 1993, the Four Bears Casino opened its doors in McKenzie County in the western portion of the state - becoming North Dakota's first tribal casino. It is owned by the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Anikara Nation tribes.
The location is advantageous because it is on the border of Montana, which does not have any full-fledged casinos.
The Prairie Knights Casino and Resort is owned by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and located in Sioux County in the southern part of the state, along the South Dakota border. It opened five months after the Four Bears casino did.
The Spirit Lake Tribe opened its casino and resort in Benson County, in the eastern portion of the state in 1996.
The Dakota Magic Casino and Resort, owned and operated by the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribe, debuted in 1999 in Richland County. The county is on the border of Minnesota to the east and South Dakota to the south. Minnesota has no legal sports betting, which benefits the visitation rate at the Dakota Magic site.
Skydancer Casino, run by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, opened in 2013, closing out - for now - the era of casinos in North Dakota.
That is about to change, however, as the Son of Star Casino in White Shield in remote McLean County - with a total population of under 10,000 residents - in the eastern section of the state is scheduled to open in the summer of 2026.
The new casino will be the second such facility of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, often referred to as the Three Affiliated Tribes. There are tentative plans to open a hotel at the site at a later date.
Horse racing in North Dakota
The abundance of farms in North Dakota has helped create a fondness for horses among residents over the years, and there has been horse racing in the state for more than a century.
But the sparse population - the state has only approximately 800,000 residents – realistically has limited the number of races that can be held.
For 2026, the North Dakota Racing Commission approved eight days of thoroughbred summer racing at Chippewa Downs - founded in 1952 - in Belcourt, and eight more at the North Dakota Horse Park in Fargo - founded in 1997 – later in the summer.
The state's cultural history of reluctance to authorize gambling overall was consistent with the fact that North Dakota in 2004 became one of the last U.S. states to launch a state lottery.
