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It’s not uncommon for us to write stories about a certain state or operator setting a new all-time high in gambling revenue. As a matter of fact, it’s commonplace in today’s landscape. Just look at the monster year New York sports betting had.
However, lost in this noise are smaller states. Flyover states, some would call them. Wouldn’t you know that Nebraska is having a betting renaissance of its own?
We just got the 2025 final tax and revenue report from the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission — and the results are gangbusters (in Nebraska’s terms, at least). Keep reading, and we’ll tell you all about Nebraska’s thriving betting industry.
Casino Revenue Scores Big In Nebraska
Let’s preface this by sharing the current Nebraska laws on betting. Casinos are legal, but only through racetrack casinos (racinos) and Native American-run casinos. There are no commercial giants like MGM or Caesars inside the state — nor will there be anytime soon. These small-scale casinos do offer a Vegas-like experience, however. Hundreds of slot machines, table games, video poker, and so on.
Sports betting is allowed, but only in-person. An online market with a ton of sports betting apps won’t be found here. Likewise, all casino betting has to be done on-site — nothing online.
These rules, naturally, put a ceiling on the size of the industry. Countrywide, we know having online access helps drive the most bets, as you’d expect, right? It creates less friction to bet, obviously. So that’s why you need to soften your expectations of Nebraska’s industry. That, plus a relatively small population (only 2 million).
For the calendar year of 2025, the industry reported revenues of $262 million — the highest ever. Like we said, this is straight from the source too, so we don’t think anything is fibbed.
What’s more impressive is the year-to-year growth. In 2025, revenues were a meager $145.7 million. So we’re talking about an 80 percent improvement here. Sure, you could get a 20-percent bump and maybe think it’s a fluke. But 80 percent? It tells you Nebraska has figured something out.
How Nebraska Grew 80 Percent In A Year
So what’s the secret? Well, it’s actually pretty obvious — if you build it, they will come.
Nebraska’s casino business benefited from new entrants into the market. The two big ones were Lake Mac Casino Resort & Racetrack (Ogallala) and Grand Island Casino Resort (Fonner Park). These two were mega-projects (by Nebraska standards) and brought new life to the industry.
All this momentum peaked at year’s end during the holidays. During December, revenues hit $26 million. That’s one of the biggest months in Nebraska casino history.
Moreover, it may be a sign of things to come. We don’t want to jinx it, but Nebraska could be on pace for an even more monster 2026. We’ll just have to wait and see, though.
How Much Money Does Nebraska Get To Keep?
Revenue numbers are top-line, but what truly matters here are the profits. Of the record revenues, how much does the state pocket in the form of taxes?
That would be $52 million in take-home money for the state. This is because the state has a flat tax rate of 20 percent on revenue. The 2025 number was miles ahead of the $29.1 million collected during 2024.
Most other states with legal betting markets funnel tax money into education. Not Nebraska, though. They pump 70 percent of gaming revenue straight into the Property Tax Credit Cash Fund. As the name implies, this is a property tax relief program for residents. This sure helps bring the cost of housing down, which other states could learn from.
Another 25 percent goes to local government, who earmark the money as it sees fit. The remaining 5 percent goes to problem gambling initiatives.
Circling back to the property tax relief efforts though, which have been a resounding success. So much so that current Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen signed an executive order to fund the program with an additional $20 million — not including the $36 million from gambling taxes. The additional money came from the general fund, something that would’ve likely never happened without the momentum from betting in the first place.
What About Sports Betting?
All the numbers we’ve mentioned up to this point have been casino and only casino. If we’re being honest, the sports gambling figures are peanuts.
Sports betting, on its own, did $8.1 million in revenue. On a big night of sports, New York or Las Vegas could do that in a single sitting. But alas, Nebraska can’t compare to those heavyweights.
But like the casino, this number is trending in the right direction. It’s almost double last year’s $4.7 million figure. The state did this despite continued struggles of the state’s pride and joy — the Cornhuskers.
We’d expect sports betting to stay around that $10 million a year mark unless the state can legalize online betting. There have been efforts to do so, but as of now, the industry has a hard cap on it.
