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SportsTranscript
00:00Maybe we've got a state ready to legalize this thing online in 2026, is Nebraska a possibility for that?
00:07Nebraska certainly is a possibility. It's such an interesting state, first of all because it's a unicameral legislature, so there's one chamber that it needs to get through, and that's the Senate.
00:16And in 2020, voters in Nebraska approved casino gambling in Nebraska, so now we have six casinos in Nebraska open at former racetracks.
00:27And that included in-person sports betting based on what the legislature said.
00:32And now, so we're entering into this discussion since then. Those first opened up in 2023.
00:38And since then, the lawmakers have been kind of like, well, let's go online. Why not do online sports betting too?
00:44Last year, Governor Jim Pillen said, you know, this would be a great avenue to raise some money so we can help decrease the property tax burden on our residents.
00:55And there was a special session last fall. There was a bill that was in play. It didn't get very far in the special session just because it's a very short session.
01:03You've got enough people against it that you didn't even want to tackle it.
01:06But then Pillen came out and said, let's do it as a priority bill next year.
01:10And we're seeing some movement.
01:12You know, there was a big, long hearing earlier last month where there was almost 100, if not over 100, opponents that came out to talk or submit letters against expanding sports betting online.
01:26Regardless of that, last week it advanced to the Senate floor. We'll see if that makes any sort of movement on the actual floor.
01:34It will need to pass three voting votes where you need to have at least two thirds of the legislator voting in favor of it.
01:42So that's one major hurdle. Three votes of that is pretty significant, especially when you had that much opposition during the hearing.
01:50And then if it does achieve that, then it will have to go to the ballot in 2026 where voters again would have to approve it.
01:58But again, voters in Nebraska approved casino gambling in 2020, so that seems like it might be okay for the industry there.
02:07It might not fully get over the hump this year, but that's okay because it can carry over into next year.
02:13And if the public vote isn't until 2026, you don't really need to.
02:17So there's not a major rush in Nebraska, but that is another positive step for the industry,
02:22which to your point has not had a lot of exciting news in terms of new markets, whether it's online sports betting, sports betting in general, or online casino.
02:32It's all been kind of flat news for the industry, especially when you then get to the smaller items like tax hikes.