Nebraska lawmakers are working on legislation to place online sports betting legalization on the ballot in November. If voters approved the measure, online sportsbooks could launch statewide as soon as December.
A leading argument for allowing online sports betting in the Cornhusker State was that Nebraskans were already doing it. They were crossing into states where it was legal and betting in a state that allows it.
While those border states – Colorado, Iowa, Wyoming, and Kansas – would likely lose some sports betting revenue if Nebraska voters approved legalization, data suggests that any loss for Colorado would be minimal.
Nebraska governor calls special session
Unlike Nebraska, Colorado online sports betting began at the same time as retail betting, in May 2020. Similar to every other US state with online and retail sportsbooks, the vast majority of sports betting revenue comes from mobile betting in Colorado.
Gov. Jim Pillen called the Nebraska Legislature into special session to formulate online sports betting legislation. Nebraska currently allows for in-person sports wagering at retail sportsbooks at the state’s racetrack casinos. Expansion into online sports betting is being pursued to create a property tax relief program.
While supporters in states without sports betting often cite lost revenue because residents are betting at offshore sportsbooks, Pillen sees it differently. The governor said Nebraska is actually losing revenue to its border states.
“Online sports betting is real and it’s happening in the state. Whoever wants to do it is doing it, and we’re giving all the revenue to our neighbors.”
State Sen. Eliot Bostar, who introduced the bill to legalize online sports betting in Nebraska, told the Lincoln Star Journal that the Cornhusker State is currently dealing with the “downsides” of sports wagering yet is not reaping the benefits.
“Because it is currently accessible to anyone who really wants to participate, our state is already incurring the social costs associated with a gambling population. However, we are not generating any of the revenue that would normally come with that activity to the state.”
Most Nebraska online sports betters traveling to Iowa
GeoComply provides geolocation services for several online sportsbooks. Data from the company confirmed that thousands of Nebraskans have attempted to bet on sports online in the state. The data also suggests that many are traveling to other states to do so.
GeoComply says there were 4.5 million attempts made in Nebraska to access online sportsbooks in other states between July 2023 and June 2024. Through July 1 this year, GeoComply has processed 2 million geolocation checks from devices located in Nebraska attempting to access sportsbooks in neighboring states.
The company’s data identified 64,000 sports betting user accounts in Nebraska in 2024.
A map posted by GeoComply on X shows that the majority of those geolocation checks came from population centers in Nebraska near the border. But not the Colorado border.
The hotspots for would-be Nebraska bettors are along the state’s eastern border, with Omaha being the primary location for Cornhusker betting activity. That suggests that Iowa would have the most to lose from Nebraska legalization. Late last year, the Omaha World-Herald reported that a significant number of Nebraskans briefly cross the Missouri River into Iowa to place online sports bets.
The GeoComply map also shows a large cluster of geolocation checks at the Nebraska border near Sioux City, IA.
Just 8% of NE online sports betting attempts were for Colorado sportsbooks
There were scattered geolocation checks in the less-populated areas of Nebraska along the Colorado border. However, they were nothing compared to the amount near the Iowa border.
The World-Herald reported that, in 2023, users in Nebraska attempted to access online sportsbooks in Iowa the most. GeoComply told the newspaper that 79% of the online bets attempted in Nebraska last year were through Iowa sportsbooks. Just 8% were attempting to access a Colorado online sportsbook.
That suggests that legalization of online sports betting in Nebraska would not have much of an impact on Colorado.
