Nebraska On Track to Become Latest State to Legalize Online Sports Betting
Credit: Jimmy Emerson/Flickr
One local expert says that he expects Nebraska online sports betting to make the November ballot and then pass. Such a development would make Nebraska the 34th state to allow legal online sports betting.
Mike Sciandra of the Nebraska Council on Problem Gambling is the expert in question, and he’s not excited about it. He told NPR that his group is preparing for that reality. He called mobile sports betting “three to four times more addictive” than in-person betting, citing the availability of bets at all times, including on overseas sports.
Nebraska currently allows in-person sports betting, but has dragged its feet on app and web-based betting. That puts it in a small group of such states, along with Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington. Wisconsin was also in that camp until legalizing a Florida-style tribe-centric online betting model.
Major Sportsbooks Fuel Drive for Signatures
Gaming America has documented how Political Action Committees (PACs) powered by multi-billion-dollar online sportsbooks have poured money into state-level initiatives. The effort to legalize online sports betting in Nebraska fits right into that pattern.
According to NPR’s reporting, Tax Relief Nebraska, the organization collecting signatures to put online sports betting on the November ballot has $7 million in combined backing from FanDuel and DraftKings. The group needs 88,000 signatures to put a measure on the ballot that would allow regulation and licensing for online sportsbooks. It needs another 126,000 to put an amendment on Nebraska’s constitution. Tax Relief Nebraska said it’s on pace to collect the required signatures by the July 2 deadline.
Then, Nebraska voters would decide on both issues in the general election. If they both pass, online sports betting would become legal, though it wouldn’t likely take effect until 2027 at the earliest.
Historically a conservative state with little gambling infrastructure, Nebraska has shown itself to be increasingly amenable to expanded gambling. Voters overwhelmingly approved legal retail casinos in 2020, with 65% of the vote. The state legislature established retail sports betting in 2021. The market launched in 2023.
Existing Nebraska Betting Action Filling Coffers Across State Lines
However, allowing only in-person betting has severely limited the size of the market. According to the American Gaming Association, retail sports betting in Nebraska has produced $1.86 million in taxes. That’s a tiny slice of the $50 million from the casinos in general.
Meanwhile, online sports betting is available in several neighboring states. Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri all have fully online sports betting markets. Nebraskans near the border frequently send their betting (and tax) dollars across these borders.
Iowa is the biggest beneficiary, as the NPR report outlined, citing 40,000 bets placed across state lines by Nebraskans. Omaha, the largest city in Nebraska by far, is located right on the Iowa border.
The Iowa tax numbers illustrate the massive gulf between the online and retail markets. According to the AGA, Iowa has produced $2.92 billion in sports betting handle via its legal market. Of that, online bets account for $2.74 billion, or about 94%.
Proponents of legalization in Nebraska are pushing the move as a tax relief issue, hence the name of the interest group. In April, they cited the potential for $87 million in tax revenue across five years.
Critics say that not only is that a drop in the bucket, but it hasn’t even been a reality since legalized casino gambling.
“Nobody’s seen a cent of property tax relief,” said Pat Loontjer, a local advocate against the gambling interests. “It doesn’t happen.”
Image credit: Jimmy Emerson/Flickr (license)
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