Mobile sports betting proposal clears first round

Lawmakers advanced a measure from general file April 14 that would allow Nebraskans to place bets on sports with their mobile devices.

LR20CA, sponsored by Lincoln Sen. Eliot Bostar, would place a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2026 general election ballot.

If the measure is approved by voters, authorized gaming operators conducting sports wagering within a licensed racetrack enclosure could also allow an individual to place sports wagers by means of a mobile or electronic platform offered by or in partnership with the operator, as long as the individual is within Nebraska’s borders when the bet is placed.

In the 2024-25 football season, Bostar said, there were more than 83,000 active mobile sports wagering accounts in Nebraska.

Over that same period of time, he said, there were 3.9 million attempts to access regulated online sports books from inside Nebraska’s borders and 42,000 border crossings, with 92% going to Iowa to place a bet.

By prohibiting mobile sports betting, Nebraska is losing out on approximately $32 million in annual tax revenue that could be used for property tax relief and programs to help problem gamblers, he said.

In addition, Bostar said, if the Legislature doesn’t vote to place the proposal on the 2026 ballot, the industry has indicated it will do so through an initiative petition drive. They also have indicated that an industry proposal would stipulate a 6.5% tax rate, he said, as opposed to the current 20% tax on casino revenue.

“I can guarantee that if they’re the ones who are going to be putting it on the ballot, it will be significantly broader in scale and in scope and the tax rate will be significantly lower,” Bostar said.

Lincoln Sen. Jason Prokop supported the proposal. He said data clearly shows that Nebraskans already are engaging in mobile sports betting with online products that are unregulated, lack consumer protections and put players’ personal data at risk.

He said LR20CA would give voters the opportunity to avoid repeating the decades in which the state paid for all the downsides of gaming but got no benefit when Nebraska residents crossed the border to gamble at casinos in Iowa.

“I think it’s better to have a well-funded safety net than pretend that the problem is going to go away,” Prokop said.

Sen. Stan Clouse of Kearney also supported the proposal, saying Nebraska residents have grown tired of lawmakers not taking action on important issues, including medical marijuana, minimum wage, paid sick leave and casino gaming.

“All these things that this body did not take action [on] and where citizens decided that they were going to step up because we weren’t listening to them,” Clouse said. “So, this particular issue — like it or not — we need to take the lead on and put in language we can live with.”

Sen. R. Brad von Gillern of Elkhorn opposed LR20CA, offering and later withdrawing a motion to indefinitely postpone the measure. Von Gillern said his opposition wasn’t based on a “moral” aversion to gambling as a whole, but to what he characterized as the “predatory” nature of mobile sports wagering.

He said such gaming is targeted toward young men in their 20s and provides the constant availability and instant gratification that reinforces addictive behavior.

States that have legalized online sports betting have seen a spike in bankruptcies, he said, especially in low-income areas. This has been accompanied by an increase in gambling addiction and higher credit card debt, he said, all for less revenue than states anticipated.

“Please don’t sell out our young people for property tax relief,” von Gillern said.

Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue also opposed the measure. While legalization could bring in millions in tax revenue for property tax relief, he said, data indicates that sports betting companies will make $112 million annually in profit.

Those are dollars that Nebraskans won’t spend on other goods and services, he said, and that will benefit only the companies themselves and the states where they are located.

“We’ll never see that money again,” Holdcroft said.

Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth also spoke against the proposal. While acknowledging that individuals who are determined to engage in mobile sports betting will find a way even though it’s illegal, Kauth said far more Nebraskans would feel “encouraged and facilitated” to participate if that form of gaming is legalized.

Lawmakers voted 27-16 to advance the proposal to the second round of debate. Twenty-five votes were needed. The measure will require 30 votes on final passage.