Nebraska Sports Betting Bill Would Overhaul Market, Authorize Online Wagering

Posted on: January 20, 2025, 12:17h. 

Last updated on: January 20, 2025, 12:17h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Legislation in Nebraska seeking to expand sports betting to the internet has been filed in the Lincoln capital.

Nebraska sports betting mobile wagering
Could legal betting on Nebraska’s beloved Cornhuskers come to the state this year? Legislation to allow sports betting on in-state colleges and expand wagering to the internet has been filed in the Lincoln capital. (Image: AP)

Last Friday, state Sen. Stanley Clouse (R-Buffalo) introduced Legislative Bill 421. The measure seeks to amend Nebraska’s gaming law to include online sports gambling.

LB421 would allow each of the state’s six commercial casinos to launch one online sportsbook skin either on their own or with a third-party operator like DraftKings and FanDuel.

Each racetrack casino that wants to facilitate online wagers would need to pay a one-time licensing fee of $5 million, payable over five years. Annual renewals would cost $50K. Sportsbooks would direct 20% of their gross revenue to the state.

Clouse suggests that 3% of the state tax benefit from online sports wagering goes to the Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Fund — 0.5% higher than the 2.5% that the fund receives from other forms of gambling. The Nebraska Property Tax Credit Cash Fund, which is why the state legalized retail slot machines, table games, and sports betting in the first place, would collect 90% of the online betting taxes.

Maximizing Relief 

In 2020, Nebraskans passed a statewide ballot referendum approving casinos at state-licensed horse racetracks. Along with revitalizing the horse racing industry, the decision to bring Las Vegas slot and tables, plus sportsbooks, to the Cornhusker State was designed to reduce property taxes on homeowners.

Of every $1 received by the state from slots, table games, and in-person sports bets, 70 cents go to the Property Tax Credit Cash Fund. To maximize the amount of relief for homeowners by legalizing gambling, online sports wagering is needed.

In states where online and in-person sports betting is permitted, the bulk of the action is facilitated online. In New Jersey, for instance, of the $12.77 billion bet last year, more than $12.27 billion, or 96%, was wagered remotely on internet-connected devices.

New Jersey’s retail sportsbooks generated less than $2.9 million in state tax revenue in 2024. Online sportsbooks directed over $358.3 million to Trenton.

Clouse believes the 2020 referendum allows the state Legislature to expand gambling to include online sports betting without another referendum.

[Online sportsbooks] would be tied into the brick and mortar casinos that have been approved by the voters,” Clouse said.

Last year, Sen. Eliot Bostar (D-Lincoln) backed legislation that would have asked voters to authorize internet sportsbooks. His bill, however, stalled after finding support in the Unicameral General Affairs Committee.

Projected Revenue 

Along with bringing sports betting online, Clouse’s legislation would strike a provision of the state’s current sports betting industry that prevents oddsmakers from taking bets on games involving in-state colleges. Allowing betting on the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Creighton Bluejays, and other universities would likely lead to a substantial increase in betting and stop some bettors from traveling into neighboring states to place such college bets.

Nebraska’s Legislative Fiscal Office projects that the state could receive around $32 million annually from a mature online sports betting market. Gov. Jim Pillen (R) remains committed to lowering homeowners’ property taxes and would presumably sign an online wagering bill should it reach his desk.