Where Minnesota's $4.9 Billion in Pull Tab Money Went in 2025

Every pull tab you buy in Minnesota runs through a licensed nonprofit, and every dollar is reported to the state. The Minnesota Gambling Control Board publishes the totals each year. Here is what its report for fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025) says about where the money went.

$4.91 Billion Played

Charitable gambling in Minnesota took in $4,910,315,372 in gross receipts in fiscal 2025. That covers paper pull tabs, e-tabs, bingo, raffles, paddlewheels and tipboards at every licensed site in the state.

It was down about half a percent from $4,935,680,755 the year before, the first drop since 2020. Almost all of that slowdown traces to e-tabs (more on that below).

Most of It Goes Back to Players

Net receipts, the money left after prizes are paid, came to about $712 million. Do the math and roughly $4.2 billion went back to players as prizes: about 85 cents of every dollar played.

That is the big-picture average across every game in the state. Individual deals vary, and the flare posted with each game tells you exactly what that deal pays. You can check any deal with our odds calculator, and our guide to pull tab payouts and odds explains how to read a flare.

Then Taxes, Costs and Charity

From that $712 million left after prizes:

• About $208.5 million went to state taxes and license and regulatory fees.
• About $147.3 million was left over for the organizations' charitable missions.
• The rest, roughly $356 million by our math, covered the cost of running the games: rent paid to the bars that host them, wages for booth workers, game supplies and e-tab provider fees.

The Board counts another $40 million for missions from exempt gambling (smaller events that do not need a full license), for a total of more than $187 million. The Board widened what it counts as "available for mission" this year, so that number is not directly comparable to earlier years.

What Changed With E-Tabs

New state standards for electronic pull tab games took effect on January 1, 2025. E-tab sales fell 4.6% for the year as players and venues adjusted, while paper pull tab sales rose 4.5%. The Board reported that sales recovered after February, with June 2025 up over the year before.

A separate change capped the fees e-tab providers can charge, which the Board says saved Minnesota charities about $20 million.

If you prefer paper, our paper vs. e-tabs guide covers how the two compare. To find a place with the format you like, filter the Minnesota map by e-tabs.

Find the Group Behind Your Bar

Every Minnesota venue on FindPullTabs lists the licensed nonprofit that runs its games: youth hockey associations, Lions clubs, fire department relief associations, veterans posts and more. Many of them run games at several bars, and each has its own page showing every site. Big operators include Community Charities of Minnesota and Irving Community Association.

The Gambling Control Board also publishes each organization's own annual numbers, so you can see what your local group raised and spent.

Sources

Figures are from the Minnesota Gambling Control Board's Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Report and FY2025 Organization Annual Report Summary. The Board's published net receipts figure varies slightly between reports ($711.5 million to $713.2 million); we round to $712 million.