You're looking at the Minnesota flag through the eyes of someone with lots of good choices who didn't get what they want. I think there's no doubt that the current new flag is an upgrade from the old one.
It’s an upgrade. But the bar was already low because the previous flag was pitiful. The one that won he competition was fine, but then someone (or someones) who thought they “knew better” made changes to it and sucked all the color out of it. Now it’s just meh.
Imo the new Minnesota flag is great. It's not as good as the original submission (and that sentiment might contribute to people not liking it as much), but it's still a good flag. The colors are nice, the design is distinct & readable, and you can even combine other flags with it (an obvious example being a pride flag) by replacing that light blue field.