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Limited Sports Betting Bill Moves Forward in Nebraska

By Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief Updated: 02 June 2021

Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief

Blake Roberts is the founder of Betting.US and is currently heading the creative team as Editor in Chief. Born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, Blake is a great sports fan, with football and basketball being his favorite. He’s our trusted voice for all betting-related matters.

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It has been announced that a limited sports betting bill is moving forward in Nebraska, with LB 561 being signed into law by the state governor, Pete Ricketts, last week. While there is still work to be carried out, this means that sports betting is now effectively legal in the state and people can go to licensed gambling venues to wager in person.

Officials believe that retail sportsbooks will go live in Nebraska this year, but they are unsure as to whether this will happen before the start of the NFL season. The Nebraska State Racing and Gaming Commission will now have to work on licensing issues to get everything up and running.

Legalizing Betting on Games of Chance

Last November, voters in the state legalized ‘all games of chance’ on the November ballot. However, it was unclear whether this would include sports betting because it is sometimes considered a game of skill rather than chance.

It has now been decided that sports betting is part and parcel of this, and existing tribal casinos, racetracks, and racinos will be able to apply for licensing.

Mobile sports betting has been stripped from the scaled-back bill as has betting on in-state college teams. In addition, the State Racing Commission has been renamed the State Racing and Gaming Commission and given a range of new regulatory powers.

A sponsor of the bill, Senator Tom Briese, said that when voters approved the proposals last year:

…they provided the legislature with a mandate. That mandate is they want casinos at racetracks, and the property tax relief they will provide. In doing so, they approved all games of chance, including sports betting and other such games, as a matter of law.

He said that he introduced LB 561 to clarify what had been approved by voters and to ensure there were consistent parameters in place.

No Concerns About Lack of Sports Betting Online

As part of the bill, sports fans in the state can go and place bets at licensed venues in person, but there will be no online or mobile sports betting allowed.

Despite the popularity of mobile and online sports betting in other states where it is legal, some officials in Nebraska do not seem to be concerned about any loss of revenue stemming from the lack of mobile betting options.

One official stated that many people who wanted to place bets online had traveled to Iowa to do this and that this was something they could continue to do in order to enjoy mobile sports betting. Both the prohibition of mobile sports betting and the college team prohibition formed part of the amended bill that was signed in by the governor.

However, there are some who are concerned about the lack of mobile sports betting, even if sports fans can easily make their way to a neighboring state. There are concerns that, given the popularity of mobile sports betting, this could heavily line the pockets of other states when the money could be going to Nebraska state coffers.