Casino gambling rules take shape in Nebraska Legislature

As the Legislature debated Sen. Tom Briese’s LB 876 on Friday, Nebraska inched closer to casino gaming coming to fruition.

“Nebraska said they want it, and it’s up to us to ensure it gets done in a timely manner,” Briese said.

There were six existing horse racetracks when those ballot initiatives were voted on.

Since then, Briese said, several more groups have expressed interest in building racetracks with the intent of putting up a casino.

Briese’s bill sets specific requirements for racetracks that want to apply for a gaming license.

“Nebraskans don’t want a racetrack casino at every I-80 interchange, they don’t want one in every county seat,” he said. “It needs to be done in a responsible, reasonable manner.”

Some of the features of the bill are:

• Prohibiting racetracks from being located within 50 miles of another racetrack.


• Prohibiting new licenses from being issued until the Racing and Gaming Commission conducts a thorough analysis in each county that has a licensed racetrack by Jan. 1, 2025.


• Requiring that racetracks have at least five racing days and 50 live races annually by Jan. 1, 2026, and 15 racing days and 120 races annually by Jan. 1, 2031.

Lynne McNally, CEO of Lincoln Race Course, said bringing casino gaming to Nebraska “can’t happen soon enough.”

“The sole purpose of these initiatives was to keep the money in Nebraska, get our revenue back from Iowa and bring racing back to what it was,” she said.

Nate Grasz with the Nebraska Family Alliance was against the gambling ballot initiatives.

“Casino gambling is bad for families, bad for business and bad for communities,” Grasz said.

Despite his opposition to gambling in Nebraska, he said the bill is a good thing.

“It puts really important limitations and restrictions on casinos, so that this isn’t just a sham, where someone can run one race a year on a dirt track just to have a casino 24/7/365,” Grasz said.

Steve Stueck, who goes to Lincoln Race Course every Friday, said keeping casino gambling in the state is a commonsense move.

“There’s nothing wrong with the casino gambling,” Stueck said. “I mean, lots of states do it, and for people who are against it, you just have to drive over to the Council Bluffs casinos and see all the Nebraska license plates there.”

McNally hopes that Lincoln Race Course will able to begin its transitional phase, adding hundreds of slot machines, by early fall.

So when could Lincoln have a fully functioning casino?

“I’m thinking the end of 2023, maybe beginning of 2024,” McNally said.