A mobile sports betting bill has cleared another parliamentary hurdle and is slated for a full vote before the Senate. If the measure is passed, it would allow Nebraskans to decide at the ballot boxes whether mobile sports betting will be a reality in the Cornhusker State.
Senate Vote Awaits
Only a handful of states allow retail sports betting but not the far more lucrative mobile sports betting, and Nebraska is one of them. In November 2020, voters approved retail sports betting in Nebraska, and on June 22, 2023, the Warhorse Casino became the first sportsbook in the state to accept an in-person sports bet. The state’s four casinos located in Columbus, Grand Island, Lincoln, and Omaha now all have retail sportsbooks.
However, the stakes have been raised, and Senator Eliot Bostar’s constitutional amendment LR 20CA is now on the precipice of making history. Upon surviving several legislative hurdles, the measure will now be heard on the Senate floor, where a two-thirds majority must approve it before the voters will have their say in November 2026.
Because Nebraska has only one legislative chamber, state law requires three separate Senate votes before the measure can advance to the ballot boxes. Estimates are that mobile sports betting would generate $32 million in taxes based on a $1.6 billion yearly handle predicated on a 20% tax rate on adjusted gross revenues.
Lynne McNally, government relations director for the WarHorse Casino, stated, “Online sports betting would be a viable way to reduce the property tax burden since it would bring approximately $30 to $32 million per year in additional tax revenue for the state. We had the first bricks-and-mortar sportsbook in the state of Nebraska. We’re doing well and are very pleased with it. However, online betting dwarfs retail in every single state they have it.”
Safety Concerns
As in every market where mobile sports betting or iGaming has been discussed, there is certain to be resistance from those who believe the juice is not worth the squeeze. Despite digital gaming generating millions of dollars for the state and acting as a source of recreation for its citizens without posing any serious financial consequences for the vast majority, there will inevitably be opposition.
In Nebraska, concerns over gambling addiction have come in several forms, with one being Nate Grasz, Executive Director of the Nebraska Family Alliance, who stated, “That’s not the only thing that we’re doing. We are actively withholding a wave of familial and financial devastation for the people of Nebraska. We all know that the house always wins, right? And so, for the house to win, it’s the people of Nebraska and our own children who have to lose.”
Yet, pro-gambling forces contend that gambling is already happening either with offshore sportsbooks or US-licensed sportsbooks in neighboring states like Iowa, Colorado and Kansas. “Nebraska is currently missing out on a $1.6 billion state online industry and $32 million in annual tax revenue,” Bostar said, “which instead goes to neighboring states like Iowa, Colorado, and Kansas.”
“It can come with real harms,” Bostar said. “The question we have to ask ourselves is, do we want that potential revenue to go elsewhere, or do we want it to go here?”
