Mark Dayton, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, said that he is okay with the idea of a state-run casino opening in downtown Minneapolis. There is a catch, though. In order for him to approve the casino, he wants half of the casino’s proceeds to go to the state.

That could be a deal-breaker, since that doesn’t leave much revenue for the casino and the city. The current proposal shares 25% of the casino’s revenue with the state. Governor Dayton says that is unacceptable.

If lawmakers approve of a state-run casino in Block E of downtown Minneapolis, the first phase of the casino would open in the spring of 2012. Proponents of the casino say that it would bring the state between $100-150 million in revenue between 2012 and 2013. Those numbers, though, are with the state taking a 25% share. If it is made 50%, that would be doubled. Casino proponents also say that from 2014 on, it could bring the state $250 million per year in tax revenue.

Not everyone thinks the casino is a great idea, though. Tribal leaders and employees of tribal casinos don’t want the competition from a state-run casino. Last week, 3,000 tribal members met at the state’s capitol to protest other gambling expansion plans that would allow horseracing tracks to add slots and let bars and restaurants also add gambling machines.

According to the tribes, a new casino in Minneapolis won’t actually increase revenue, because it will simply take customers that are currently playing in tribal casinos and lead them to play somewhere else. It’s that old argument about creating more pie or simply slicing the current pie into smaller pieces. A decision is expected to be made on the casino and other gambling expansion plans later this year.

Tags: Minnesota gambling, tribal casinos