Nebraska

Last verified September 27, 2026

By the Legal Sportsbooks US editorial team

Nebraska

Retail only

Legal since

June 22, 2023 (retail)

Minimum age

Regulator

Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission

Licensed apps

None

State law

Neb. Rev. Stat. 9-1101 et seq. (Racetrack Gaming Act; 9-1103 definitions)

Is sports betting legal in Nebraska?

Yes, in person only. LB 561, signed May 25, 2021, lets licensed racetrack casinos take sports bets inside their racetrack enclosures under the Nebraska Racetrack Gaming Act, which voters created with three initiatives in November 2020. WarHorse Casino Lincoln took the state's first legal bet on June 22, 2023. Bettors must be 21, and online betting goes to voters on November 3, 2026.

Where you can bet

Five racetrack casinos have sportsbooks as of September 2026: WarHorse Lincoln, WarHorse Omaha, Harrah's Columbus (Caesars Sportsbook), Grand Island Casino Resort and Lake Mac Casino Resort in Ogallala, which operates from a temporary facility. Grand Island and Lake Mac use Elite Sportsbook. Bets go through windows or kiosks in a designated sports wagering area. WarHorse South Sioux City broke ground on August 27, 2026 and isn't open yet.

You can't bet on a college game played in Nebraska that involves a Nebraska college team. Player props on athletes from Nebraska college teams are banned wherever the game is played, and so is in-game betting on any game involving a Nebraska college team. High school games, minor league games and props on athletes under 18 are also off the board. Racetrack gaming revenue, sports wagering included, is taxed at 20%.

How Nebraska legalized sports betting

The constitutional ban

Article III, Section 24 of the Nebraska Constitution bars the Legislature from authorizing any game of chance or lottery, with listed exceptions: the state lottery, charitable lotteries and raffles, nonprofit bingo, and parimutuel wagering on horse races conducted by licensees inside a licensed racetrack enclosure. A 2002 local-option video gambling initiative and a 2014 legislative amendment on replayed horse races were both kept off the ballot by the Nebraska Supreme Court (see the court cases below).

The 2020 initiatives

Keep the Money in Nebraska, backed by the Nebraska Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and Ho-Chunk Inc., the Winnebago Tribe's economic development company, filed three petitions on April 10, 2019 and turned in about 470,000 signatures on July 3, 2020. Initiative 429 added subsection (5) to Article III, Section 24, exempting any law that licenses and taxes "all forms of games of chance" run by authorized gaming operators inside a licensed racetrack enclosure. Initiative 430 created the Racetrack Gaming Act and a gaming commission. Initiative 431 set a 20% tax on gross gaming revenue, with 70% to the Property Tax Credit Cash Fund, 25% to the host county or city, 2.5% to the Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Fund and 2.5% to the General Fund.

Secretary of State Bob Evnen withheld all three from the ballot on August 25, 2020, and the Supreme Court ordered them back on September 10. On November 3, 2020, voters approved all three by about two to one; Initiative 431 passed with 68.71%.

LB 561 and the commission's rules

Sen. Tom Briese's LB 561 amended the initiated Racetrack Gaming Act. It renamed the State Racing Commission the State Racing and Gaming Commission, raised the horse-wagering age from 19 to 21, banned credit cards for bets and defined sports wagering. Because the bill changed an initiated law, it needed 33 of 49 votes. On May 13, 2021, senators adopted Sen. Steve Lathrop's amendment 31 to 4, banning bets on in-state college teams playing in Nebraska, and Lathrop said the change was needed to reach 33. The bill passed 44 to 3 with 2 not voting on May 20, and Gov. Pete Ricketts signed it May 25, 2021.

The commission approved sports wagering rules on October 21, 2022. The attorney general signed off on January 10, 2023 and Gov. Jim Pillen on January 27, and the Secretary of State published them in early February. WarHorse Lincoln, using Kambi, opened its sportsbook June 22, 2023. A Winnebago Tribe council member placed one of the first bets, on Wake Forest in the College World Series.

Mobile betting, 2024 to 2026

Sen. Eliot Bostar's LR 3CA, a constitutional amendment for mobile betting, and its companion tax bill LB 13 cleared the General Affairs Committee during the 2024 special session on property taxes, but the session adjourned August 20, 2024 and the measures never reached floor debate. Bostar's LR 20CA, introduced January 17, 2025, advanced from first-round debate on April 14, 2025. On April 23, Sen. Brad von Gillern led a filibuster, and Bostar pulled the measure one vote short of the 33 needed for cloture. It carried over to 2026 and was indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026.

Outside the Legislature, Tax Relief Nebraska turned in about 201,000 signatures for a constitutional amendment and 146,000 for a companion statute before the July 2, 2026 deadline, and the Secretary of State certified both on August 21. Initiative Measure 440 would amend Article III, Section 24 to allow online sports wagering by authorized gaming operators. Initiative Measure 441 would limit each operator to two platforms at a time, require servers in Nebraska, keep the in-state college ban and require commission rules by June 1, 2027. Six licensed racetracks could each run two apps, so up to 12 sportsbooks. Evnen certified the full ballot on September 11, 2026.

Sports betting court cases in Nebraska

State ex rel. Stenberg v. Douglas Racing Corp. (1994)

The Nebraska Supreme Court held that parimutuel wagering at a detached off-track facility is outside a licensed racetrack enclosure and so not covered by the Article III, Section 24 exception (246 Neb. 901, 524 N.W.2d 61).

Loontjer v. Robinson (2003) and State ex rel. Loontjer v. Gale (2014)

Pat Loontjer, director of Gambling with the Good Life, sued to block a 2002 local-option gaming initiative for video gambling. The district court enjoined it as a single-subject violation, and on October 24, 2003 the Supreme Court affirmed on a different ground: the sponsors never filed the sworn statement of names and addresses required by statute (No. S-02-1030, 266 Neb. 902). In the second case, decided September 5, 2014, the court granted Loontjer a writ of mandamus keeping LR 41CA, which would have allowed wagering on replayed horse races and directed how the tax proceeds were spent, off the November 2014 ballot because it combined separate subjects in one amendment (288 Neb. 973).

State ex rel. McNally v. Evnen (2020)

After Evnen withheld Initiatives 429 to 431 on single-subject grounds, Lynne McNally and Keep the Money in Nebraska filed an original action for mandamus. Objectors Richard Loveless and Ann and Todd Zohner intervened for the Secretary. On September 10, 2020 (No. S-20-612), the court held that each initiative is reviewed on its own and that none of them broke the single-subject rule, and it ordered all three onto the ballot. Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman wrote the plurality. Chief Justice Michael Heavican and Justices Stephanie Stacy and John Freudenberg dissented, calling the racetrack-only limit in Initiative 429 logrolling.

Big Red Keno's suit over the Lincoln casino (2021 to 2022)

Big Red Keno sued in June 2021, claiming exclusive rights to expanded gaming at the Lincoln Race Course. On April 25, 2022, Lancaster County District Judge Robert Otte dismissed it, finding the former track operator, Omaha Exposition and Racing, didn't have authority to grant that exclusivity. He left Big Red Keno a damages claim against that company. We haven't found a later ruling.

Tribal gaming cases

The Santee Sioux Tribe opened a casino with video slots in February 1996 after compact talks with the state failed, and sued Nebraska and Gov. Ben Nelson for failing to negotiate in good faith. The Eighth Circuit affirmed dismissal on Eleventh Amendment grounds on August 13, 1997 (No. 96-2975, 121 F.3d 427). On January 29, 1998, it reversed a district court and ordered enforcement of the National Indian Gaming Commission's closure order against the casino (United States v. Santee Sioux Tribe, No. 97-1546).

Nebraska later joined Iowa and the city of Council Bluffs against the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska's casino on a 4.8-acre trust parcel in Carter Lake, Iowa. On August 30, 2021, the Eighth Circuit (No. 19-2898, Judge Steven Colloton writing) upheld the commission's 2017 ruling that the land qualifies as restored lands under the 1990 Ponca Restoration Act. We found no pending tribal-state compact case in Nebraska.

Prediction market cases

Nebraska hasn't sued a prediction market, and we found no cease-and-desist letter from Attorney General Mike Hilgers as of September 27, 2026. He has signed multistate amicus briefs against Kalshi, including one filed December 22, 2025 in the Fourth Circuit (Maryland, No. 25-1892), one filed January 16, 2026 supporting three California tribes in Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi (Ninth Circuit No. 25-7504), and one filed March 10, 2026 supporting Nevada (Nos. 25-7187, 25-7516 and 25-7831). The Ninth Circuit ruled for Nevada in KalshiEX v. Assad on August 28, 2026, and Kalshi petitioned for rehearing en banc on September 9. The Third Circuit sided with Kalshi against New Jersey on April 6, 2026, and New Jersey's Supreme Court petition, No. 26-299, has a response due November 9, 2026. On September 25, 2026, the Sixth Circuit held in KalshiEX v. Schuler that Kalshi's sports contracts aren't swaps and, alternatively, that the Commodity Exchange Act doesn't preempt state gambling law.

Nebraska is in the Eighth Circuit, which hasn't ruled on preemption. On July 27, 2026, Judge Katherine Menendez enjoined Minnesota's prediction market ban in suits by the United States, Kalshi and Polymarket US. On September 8, Judge Stephen Locher denied Kalshi an injunction against Iowa (KalshiEX LLC v. Bird, No. 4:26-cv-00109). Kalshi's appeal is Eighth Circuit No. 26-2874, with its opening brief due November 6, 2026. A ruling there would bind federal courts in Nebraska.

Prediction markets and daily fantasy

Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood and the prediction market apps of DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics take sports trades from Nebraska, including on Cornhuskers games that the state's sportsbooks can't book. Flatwater Free Press counted more than $97 million traded on Kalshi and Polymarket on Nebraska men's basketball games in the 2025 to 2026 season, without knowing how much came from Nebraskans. Lance Morgan, CEO of WarHorse and Ho-Chunk, told Flatwater he hopes Hilgers will issue cease-and-desist orders. Novig, run by Ludlow Exchange, LLC and designated a contract market by the CFTC on June 16, 2026, accepts Nebraska users 21 and over under its eligibility rules.

Daily fantasy has no Nebraska statute. LB 561 excludes fantasy contests from sports wagering, a 2024 special session bill to register fantasy operators (LB 6) was indefinitely postponed, and we found no attorney general opinion on the contests. DraftKings, FanDuel and pick'em apps run them in the state for players 19 and over.

Help with a gambling problem

Nebraska 24 Hour Helpline: 1-833-BETOVER (1-833-238-6837).

Sources

Common questions

How we track and verify state laws

What does Legal Sportsbooks US track?

Every state's legal status, the date betting became legal, the minimum age, the regulator and the licensed apps, plus the legal history and court cases behind them, for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Our page on how we track and verify state laws explains the details.

What do the statuses mean?

Online and retail means licensed mobile apps and in-person sportsbooks both operate. Online only means betting happens through licensed apps, with no retail sportsbooks. Retail only means you can bet in person at licensed venues, but there's no statewide app. Not legal means no licensed sportsbooks operate. Legislation pending means a bill or ballot measure is moving, but betting hasn't launched. Not yet verified means we haven't confirmed the state's current status.

Can I bet on sports where I live?

The rules follow where you are when you place the bet. Licensed apps use geolocation to confirm you're inside a state where they can operate, and some states limit betting to certain premises. Find your state in the state index, or read our guide to location rules.

How old do you have to be to bet on sports?

It's 21 in 33 of the 40 jurisdictions with legal sports betting and 18 in five: Washington, D.C., Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Wyoming. In North Dakota and Washington, the tribal casino sets the age.

How current is the tracker?

State laws and licenses change, so every state entry records the date it was last verified. If a status looks out of date, the state regulator's website has the official answer.

Is this legal advice?

No. We summarize public information about state sports betting laws. Confirm the rules with your state regulator before you bet, and don't wager more than you can afford to lose.