A group of 13 Nebraska senators have issued a statement voicing their opposition to the proposed online sports betting expansion in the state.
After a committee passed Legislative Resolution 3CA, which proposes a public vote on online sports betting, the senators made the dissenting statement in a special legislative session on Friday. They cited concerns that allowing state-wide sports betting would “inevitably lead” to worsening addiction issues. Nebraska launched regulated retail sports betting last years.
They also suggested that Nebraska recently legalized casinos “largely on the promise of property tax relief that has failed to manifest itself.”
“Nebraska very recently legalized casinos largely on the promise of property tax relief that has failed to manifest itself. Expanding gambling further will inevitably lead to expanding the associated addictions and adds to more suffering in our communities. Online sports betting turns every cell phone into a 24/7 handheld gambling device, leading to new addictions.”
Their statement cited data from the National Council on Problem Gambling that suggests that online sports betting has increased the risk of gambling addiction by 30% and that 20% of college students gamble using financial aid dollars.
The signatories of the letter were Senators John Lowe, Ray Aguilar, Joni Albrecht, Robert Clements, Robert Dover, Steve Erdman, Steve Halloran, Brian Hardin, Rick Holdcroft, Loren Lippincott, Rita Sanders and Julie Slama.
What is Nebraska saying about sports betting?
The merits and drawbacks of Sen. Eliot Bostar’s LB13 and the Legislative Resolution 3CA to facilitate betting expansion were debated at length at a hearing on July 31. At that time, Bostar suggested that online sports betting would yield around $32 million across the first two-and-a-half years of legalization. Nebraska’s property tax paid in 2023 was $5.3 billion.
The argument for allowing online sports betting in Nebraska has largely been pinned on the amount of revenue it could pull in for the state, and how that money could be used for property tax relief and other measures. Nebraska’s neighboring states of Iowa and Kansas have had legal mobile betting for years. Since legalization in 2019, Iowa has taken over $9 billion in wagers and collected $44 million in tax revenue.
Bostar also posited that Nebraskans who want to bet online are already doing it by accessing unregulated sites or crossing state lines. GeoComply’s Danny DiRienzo said the geolocation firm blocked 4.5 million geolocation checks in Nebraska over the past year as residents tried to access online sportsbooks, as well as 40,000 border crossings, of which 82% went to Iowa.
“We’re not even leaving resources on the table, we’re giving it away,” said Bostar.
Nebraska advances sports betting amendment, long road ahead
Last week, tangible progress was made when the Unicameral General Affairs Committee passed LR3CA, which proposes an online sports betting public referendum on either this year’s ballot or the 2025 ballot, by a 5-2 vote.
However, to get it out of committee, Sen. John Cavanaugh introduced an amendment to the language that meant that approval would only open up the option of legalization, rather than obligate it.
Unless lawmakers act on Bostar’s bill and it then receives majority support in the legislature, there will be no public referendum on online sports betting until at least November 2026. Nebraska only permits statewide ballot referendums during even-numbered years.
