Despite some momentum to legalize online sports betting in Nebraska, this won’t be happening in 2025.
LR20CA required 30 of 49 state senators to pass it to voters on the 2026 ballot, but there were signs that it would be rejected. On March 10th, 2025, the majority went against this bill during the General Affairs Committee. Only three submissions supported the bill and 51 rejected this legislation.
However, Sen. Bostar raised an important point, explaining that Nebraska loses about $32 million in potential tax revenue to the illegal market as well as bettors placing wagers in states on the border like Iowa.
According to Lindsay Slader, senior vice president of compliance of GeoComply – which tracks geolocation – there were about 42,000 border crossings from Nebraska to legal online sports betting states during the 2024 NFL season. In other words, with Nebraska losing potential tax revenue to neighboring states, there was hope that this bill could get on the 2026 ballot.
Those hopes were squashed in the short term, with Sen. Bostar pulling the bill in an April 23rd hearing once it became evident that they didn’t have enough votes to push it through. This came after opponents of the bill put in a filibuster, which meant that it needed 33 votes to be passed instead of the original requirement of 30.
Senators who were against the bill stated that gambling addiction was the main reason why online sports betting was a bad idea. State senator Robert Dover even claimed that online sports wagering could increase suicides in Nebraska. This type of opposition makes it likely that it could be a long wait for Nebraska online sports betting.
Despite recent news, there is still hope for online sports betting in Nebraska. The next step could involve online sportsbooks creating a petition among Nebraskans to get this back on the 2026 ballot.
This was a strategy implemented in Missouri, where in-state professional sports teams like the St. Louis Cardinals worked together to get over 340,000 petition signatures in support of online sports betting in May 2024. During this time, popular operators like DraftKings and FanDuel invested $30 million in support of Missouri sports betting. Only a few months later, sports betting became legal in Missouri.
For a petition to get LR20CA on the 2026 ballot, it would need 10% of approximately 1.25 million Nebraskan registered voters, which works out to 125,000 signatures. If that happens, this bill would need to be supported by a majority of voters during the 2026 ballot. If that’s the case, online sports betting could arrive in Nebraska as early as 2027.
The most likely outcome in this scenario would be a launch date at the start of the 2027 NFL season since it takes a few months for online sports betting to become fully operational following a successful vote.
Until online sports betting becomes available in Nebraska, you can place legal sports bets at these retail locations:
| Location | City |
|---|---|
| Warhouse Casino Lincoln | Lincoln, NE |
| Warhouse Casino Omaha | Omaha, NE |
| Grand Island Casino Resort | Grand Island, NE |
| Harrah’s Columbus Racing & Casino | Columbus, NE |
