Nebraska sports betting is now legal after Gov. Pete Ricketts signed the state’s first-ever commercial casino gaming bill into law earlier this week.
Nebraska’s gaming bill only permits retail sportsbooks at pari-mutuel race tracks, which can also offer “Las Vegas-style” casino gaming under the legislation. The bill prohibits bets on college games featuring in-state programs played in the state. That means bettors won’t be able to wager on the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team games when they play at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln or the Creighton Blue Jays when they play in Omaha.
State gaming facilities will likely partner with third-party operators for their brick-and-mortar sportsbooks. All sportsbooks are subject to further regulatory review under a new gaming commission created under the bill.
Legal betting could begin in the second half of 2021 or early 2022, but there’s no firm timeline at this point. Still, the prospect of any legal Nebraska sportsbooks seemed unlikely even a year ago.
