August 6 is going to be a landmark day for casino lovers in Nebraska. That’s when the WarHorse Casino is due to open in Omaha. Meanwhile the wait for online casinos and sports betting to be legalized goes on in the state.
The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission have given their approval to the opening of the WarHorse Casino. There are still a few compliance checks to be made but the expectancy is that the opening will happen on schedule.
Customers will be able to use the new $250 million casino 24/7. That’s something that online casino players are fully used to.
Lance Morgan is the Chief Executive Officer of WarHorse. He describes the upcoming opening as a “pretty seminal moment” for the gaming industry in Nebraska. That’s because this will be the first state-sanctioned casino in Omaha.
It promises to be a spectacular casino to visit. There will be 925 gaming positions with 800 of them being slot machines. In addition there will also be the Sweetwater Cafe. There will also be retail sports betting on offer.
More is on the way next year when the second phase of the development opens. Spring 2025 will see there be 1200 slot machines, 20 gaming tables including poker, more dining options and even a skywalk that takes customers to the casino from the parking garage.
More land-based casinos are due to open in the state but the online side of the gambling industry is making slow progress in Nebraska.
It was in 2018 that a US Supreme Court Judge ruling produced a significant change in the gambling industry, particularly sports betting. It had been the case that the final say on legalization was in the hands of the Federal Government. The ruling changed that and now individual US states can have the final say.
One of the states that led the campaign was New Jersey, where now over 30 NJ DGE licensed online casinos are operating. They were delighted with the ruling and were quick to change their laws, though Delaware was the first to do so. One reason why states are so keen to make sports betting legal is the huge amounts of gambling tax revenue that can be received. Over 30 US states have now gone down the legalization route and reaped the benefits by doing so.New Jersey is seeing gambling revenue figures continuing to increase. $47.8 million worth of tax revenues were received in June of this year. That’s despite sports betting figures dropping for the second month in a row. The lack of NFL matches and the ending of the NBA season explain that situation.
Total market revenue in New Jersey was $3.06 billion for the first six months of the year. That was a 12.2% increase on the total for January to the end of June in 2023. $331.3 million has been received in tax revenue from those companies who have been granted a license to operate in the state.
Even more revenue may be received in the coming years. An attempt is being made to raise the gambling tax rate in New Jersey. Other states such as Pennsylvania and New York have higher levels of tax (51% in New York) and are earning more revenue than New Jersey.
Looking on with envious eyes is Nebraska’s Gov. Jim Pillen. The state is yet to make online sports betting legal and that is not pleasing the governor. He says that although betting on sport online is not legal in Nebraska, he knows people are still doing it.
They use either other states or offshore accounts using VPNs to place their bets. Nebraska doesn’t receive any cash from the wagers placed and the governor recently said “We’re giving all the revenue to our neighbors.” Kansas for example made sports betting legal in 2022 and over $4 billion in wagers have been placed.
That might not be the situation for too much longer. A new bill is being introduced to the Senate that aims to legalize online sports betting in Nebraska. It’s estimated that online sports betting could bring in just over $30 million a year in additional tax revenue. Although there are four land-based casinos that offer in-person sports betting, the state knows that far more revenue can be received if online sports betting was to be made legal.
Just as New Jersey and many other US states have discovered, making online sports betting and casinos legal can bring in much needed revenue.
