Three national sports betting operators and a key Nebraska tribe are running a poll in the state to gauge voter interest in adding online sports betting, according to a Wednesday report from the Lincoln Journal-Star. Betting apps BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel in partnership with the Winnebago Tribe are behind the effort in a state that currently has in-person only wagering and bans betting on its local teams.
Should the poll reveal the voters would support an expansion to online sports betting in Nebraska, the group would pursue a ballot initiative for the 2024 election. Such proposals require that signatures from 10% of voters registered on the date the proposal is turned in be submitted to the state by July 24. According to the the secretary of state website, there were 1,227,685 registered voters in the state at the start of February. Nebraska law also requires that those signatures include 5% of registered voters in at least 38 counties.
It appears too late in the legislative season for lawmakers to get a referendum on the ballot — Jan. 18 was the last date to introduce legislation in the unicameral body. The session ends April 18. Nebraskans approved the current legalization in 2020, when they voted to allow a major expansion of gaming, including games of chance. Lawmakers ultimately decided that included sports betting. Legal wagering launched two-and-a-half years later in June 2023.
‘They’d much rather do it from their phones’
The Winnebago Tribe, through its economic development company, Ho-Chunk, Inc., currently owns and operates sportsbooks at its WarHorse Lincoln Casino and WarHorse Omaha locations. The Grand Island Casino also offers in-person sports betting.
Lance Morgan, the CEO of Ho-Chunk, Inc., told the Journal-Star that he could not reveal polling results so far, but did say, “Sports betting has become legal, and if you’re gonna do it, people really — they don’t want to drive if they can help it. They’d much rather do it from their phone. It’s a natural sort of expansion.”
Among Nebraska’s border states, only Missouri does not have legal sports betting. Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, and Wyoming all offer digital sports betting, and South Dakota has live in-person wagering.
Last year, lawmakers tried and failed to add digital sports betting. Morgan predicts that Nebraskans will wager $1.5 annually online.
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