Sports betting was officially legalized in Nebraska late last week after Governor Pete Ricketts signed LB 561 into law.

It seemed more likely that an outspoken governor who opposed gambling would allow the bill to pass through inactivity, but Ricketts had signed a bill that would allow the Nebraskans to bet on all professional and collegiate athletics events. Bettors will not be allowed to gamble at state colleges, including home games at the University of Nebraska or Creighton University.

LB 561 passed through the unicameral legislature with a margin of 44-3. The current law will only allow retail bookmakers in pari-mutuel bets to accept sports bets. The act also created a new gaming commission to oversee the state's growing casino market.

Last November, Nebraska citizens voted to allow gambling at casinos in their state. The voting initiative made it possible to offer "games of chance" on state racetracks. Most, if not all, of the pari-mutuels will be converted or added to the casino.

According to the report of Network Actionthese gaming operators will "likely cooperate" with third parties to operate their traditional sports betting. This will give some of the bigger bookmakers such as DraftKings, FanDuel and William Hill access to Cornhusker state.

While the bill made it clear that sports betting would be allowed because it was still in the shadow economy even after the voting initiative, online betting is not allowed under Nebraska law. The lack of an online betting market will hurt the revenue streams of providers and ultimately state coffers.

In most states with both online and retail betting, the overwhelming majority of revenues come from mobile applications or online books. In New Jersey, one of the largest sports betting markets in the US, approximately 44% 2021 sports betting was placed online.

There is no schedule to launch the sports betting market, but most estimates range between late 2021 and early 2022. With Rickett's signature, Nebraska joins South Dakota, Wyoming, New York, Arizona, Maryland, and Connecticut as states that have legalized or expanded sports betting.