Nebraska Online Sports Betting

Nebraska does not permit sports betting currently and there is no pending legislation to alter the current stance.

Nebraska’s State Legislators have surprisingly shown little desire to legalize sports betting in the wake of the recent winds of change blowing through US Sports Betting Laws. No bills have ever been introduced and State Governor Pete Ricketts recently reaffirmed the position;

“Sports betting is illegal in Nebraska and we have no plans to change that”, Governor Ricketts said. “For every dollar in tax revenue, you spend three in social services to combat the effects of gambling” he continued.

Currently then, Nebraska has almost no online betting options beyond DFS, not even online horse or greyhound racing. (For a full run down on attempts on fully legalizing DFS in Nebraska please see section below; “Online Fantasy Sports in Nebraska”).

Things rarely change with little warning without a change of government, however, there is no reason to believe change in Nebraska’s sports betting legalization position is currently imminent.

In Nebraska, online sports betting is not specifically deemed illegal. However, Nebraska gaming laws do not specifically need to determine a position on sports betting online, as anything not covered off under laws as legal in Nebraska’s Gambling Laws is automatically considered to be illegal.

For example, concerning horse racing gambling in Nebraska, while the state permits tracks to offer race books, this does not carry over to simulcast betting sites, nor are horse racing betting sites licensed in the state of Nebraska.

That situation may change, perhaps even as soon as the next state legislative session. Senator Justin Wayne has brought forward three bills in the past, including LB 990 that could potentially allow for sports betting in Nebraska. Whilst he has not succeeded to this point, critically, he is committed to the sports betting legalization process and perhaps most importantly, Nebraskans are yet to calculate the full impact of the global health crisis on the State budget. Time will tell.

Daily fantasy sports sites do operate in Nebraska however, the games are not yet expressly legal. The DFS companies claim that they are permitted because the activity is a game of skill. Nebraska’s state attorney general has not released an opinion that contradicts those claims. Meanwhile, online players can play real money DFS competitions in the state without running afoul of Nebraska’s state laws.

As it is widely considered to be a contest of skill and unrelated to regular casino games of random chance, Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) betting has long been exempt from US federal legislation.

The most conservative states have disallowed fantasy sports, however, in 2017, the state of Nebraska attempted to legislate to formally legalize and regulate fantasy sports with bill LB469 by amending existing law to ensure DFS games are not classified as illegal gambling in Nebraska.

The bill was filibustered in both 2017 and 2018 which only goes to show that Nebraska’s State Legislature has little taste for change in regulating DFS. The unsuccessful Nebraskan Fantasy Contests Act LB469 required all fantasy site operators to pay a registration and renewal fees, to adhere to a regulations and guidelines such as;

• preventing employees of DFS sites from participating,
• prohibiting the participation of athletes or other sporting officials who participate in events upon which DFS contests are based,
• prohibiting anyone under 19 from playing; and
• segregating players’ funds from operating funds.

These guidelines are already standard in many states where DFS is considered legal, however, Nebraska’s lawmakers remain steadfastly defiant of giving DFS the full legalization green light.

Meanwhile, however, all DFS sites can legally accept players from Nebraska and online players from the Cornhusker State are free to legally participate in DFS until the legalization question has been fully resolved by the State House.

When sports betting becomes an accepted and legalized form of gambling in Nebraska, expect that eSports (widely known as ‘competitive gaming’) will lead the way in for a young generation of Millennial gamblers to become involved with a contemporary form of sports betting that is unashamedly pitched at a young, technologically aware, and technology-literate population.

What are eSports?

eSports (‘competitive gaming’ in the most popular multi-player online video games like Dota 2, League of Legends, Call of Duty, CS:GO and others) is the fastest growing genre of sports entertainment in the modern world.

The sport has evolved from the one-time underground LAN gaming community to become a mainstream sport. Players worldwide compete in eSports tournaments that are offering prize money in the millions. The enormous growth in the sport has coincided directly with the development in live video streaming technology.

Betting interest in eSports is subject to huge monthly increases and international sportsbooks offer odds on all the big global eSports tournaments, and big money is won and lost on a daily basis.

As soon as there is a legalized sportsbook in Nebraska, expect eSports betting markets to be among the first legal betting lines in the frame.

Horse Racing Betting in Nebraska is administered by the Nebraska State Racing Commission and they are responsible for approving racing events, animal welfare, simulcasting and licensing of the state racetracks.

Trackside Betting

Nebraska is home to six racetracks and races are usually held throughout summer months, totaling just a few days of racing each year. The rest of the year’s betting activity at the state’s racetracks is dedicated to the simulcasting of live events hosted at other U.S. tracks and international locations.

Off Track Betting (OTB) in Nebraska

OTB betting is not permitted in the state of Nebraska.

Online Horse Racing in Nebraska

Online Horse Racing Betting is not permitted in the state of Nebraska.

Visit our Nebraska online gambling page for more information on the laws in the Cornhusker State