- Nebraska Governor Pete Rickets signed a bill to allow sports betting in the state.
- This bill sets the terms for what kinds of sports betting are allowed in Nebraska.
- Nebraskans will not be allowed to wager on in-state collegiate events.
OMAHA, Neb. - Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts signed a bill to set the regulations for sports betting and horse betting in Nebraska.
Gambling was approved by the voters in Nebraska, but the state legislature had to specify that sports betting was included in it.
This specification is what Ricketts just approved, despite being notably against sports betting in Nebraska.
Despite his own personal opposition to the practice, Ricketts noted that he would respect the will of the voters, and not veto the bill.
The sports betting bill also raises the age of majority as it pertains to betting on horse races in Nebraska.
Before Ricketts’ signature, Nebraskans had to be 19 years old in order to bet on horses, but now, they must be 21.
The next steps for sports betting in Nebraska are fairly simple - the legislation passed with an emergency clause on it, which means that as soon as it passed, regulators had the go ahead to start setting up a framework for sports betting.
The goal here is to allow regulators as much time as possible, so that when casinos launch in the state, they could have sportsbooks attached.
Online sports betting, notably, is not included in this bill, and there are also restrictions on in-state collegiate athletic events.
Still, this is more than the citizens of Nebraska could have hoped for a few short years ago, before the repeal of PASPA made bills like this possible.
Sports bettors in Nebraska are part of the way there, but have a long way to go in terms of online and collegiate sports betting.