The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission (NRGC) recently announced the $48,000 study completed in December by the Innovation Group did not provide enough information to determine if additional racino licenses should be granted in addition to the six existing venues.
The commission voted 7-0 to create a committee to review legislative requirements and either supplement the current study or authorize a new one.
Commission Chairman Dennis Lee told the Nebraska Examiner, “I’m not sure there’s enough data in the current study to allow the commission to make a good judgment on any expansion of current racetracks beyond our current facilities.”
Currently, as approved by the 2020 voter referendum, only the existing, licensed racetracks in Lincoln, Grand Island, Omaha, Columbus, South Sioux City and Hastings can have casinos.
However, under a separate bill, additional locations may be considered after the commission completes a market/economic study to determine whether additional racinos could be permitted without cannibalizing existing operations.
The Innovation Group Executive Vice President Tom Zitt told commissioners it is difficult to assess the impact of additional racinos on the existing venues since Nebraska allows limited racing days. He said the company would be willing to expand its report if racetracks could provide information about expected increases in racing days and purses. Racetrack officials said Innovation Group representatives never visited the state’s racetracks or requested data required for the study.
Officials at the Lincoln racino Warhorse Gaming and the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association called for the Innovation Group study to be “thrown out” and requested a new study.
The commission also tabled a request to move the license from a quarter horse racetrack in Hastings to the proposed new Lake Mac Casino Resort and Racetrack in Ogallala. Attorney Brian Jorde, representing the venue, said the state statute regarding the market study required the “initial issuance” of such a report, which has occurred. Therefore, Jorde said, the license move could be approved now. He said any market study would indicate moving the racetrack 200 miles west to Ogallala would be a benefit, not a detriment, to existing racinos.
A group seeking a racino in Fremont also presented their case, but commissioners took no action, stating the market study must be updated or redone.
Meanwhile, a recent report from Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley indicated the commission did not follow its own rules requiring independent audits to support published casino revenue figures.
Foley told KETV, “What we’re being told is, ‘Here’s the money that we earned that we owe to the state. Take our word for it. It’s correct.’ We’re happy to take your word for it, but we also need to verify by an independent firm. It’s going to be a bigger and bigger issue as time goes on, so we want to make sure right out of the gate everyone’s going to play by the rules, play by the regulations, make sure you verify those tax dollars coming to the people of Nebraska.”
Foley added, “We’ve got to make sure that everybody is getting all the tax revenues that were promised to the people because that was a big part of the sales pitch when people were being asked to vote on whether or not to authorize casino gambling in our state.”
Responding to the auditor’s report, Lee said on KETV the commission is working with the auditor’s office to strengthen its policies and procedures. “As we continue to expand the potential for casino gaming in Nebraska with our current facilities, then we’re going to need some guidance on that path. Fortunately, we have the auditor available to give us that guidance. We know what our marching orders are, and so do the casino operations.”
The state’s four racinos generated nearly $8.9 million in gaming tax revenue in December, ending 2023 with more than $89 million in gross gaming revenue from slot machines, table games and sports betting. Lincoln’s WarHorse Casino produced $51.5 million of that figure, including $50.2 million from slots and $1.3 million from sports betting.
The state received $17.8 million in casino tax revenue; 70 percent, or $12.5 million of that amount, went into a state property tax credit fund. Cities and counties received 25 percent of the tax, or $4.5 million. The city of Lincoln and Lancaster County each received about $1.3 million from WarHorse Lincoln. The state general fund and compulsive gamblers assistance fund each received about $445,000.
Pete Graziano, WarHorse vice president of marketing, said, “We’re very happy with the results we’ve seen so far.” he said, noting when the venue opened in September 2022, “we weren’t sure what to expect.” The expansion at the Lincoln facility is expected to open in the fourth quarter of this year, doubling the size of the casino floor space, increasing slots from 425 to 800 and adding 10 table games. Graziano said a hotel will be added when the casino expansion is completed.
The seven-eighths-mile horse racetrack at Legacy Downs at WarHorse Lincoln also is expected to offer live racing by the end of the year, Graziano said.
Grand Island Casino and Resort, also open for the full year, generated $30 million in revenue for 2023. About $27.8 million came from slots, $1.1 million from electronic table games, $730,000 from table games and $245,000 from sports betting. General Manager Vincent Fiala said those numbers were “just above our initial projections.” Fiala said the permanent casino resort is expected to open in the first quarter of 2025.
Opened in mid-June, Caesars Entertainment’s temporary Harrah’s Casino at Ag Park in Columbus generated nearly $7.4 million in revenue, with slightly more than $7 million from slots and the rest from electronic table games. The permanent location under construction northwest of the city will open later this year.
WarHorse has not opened a temporary casino in Omaha but launched a sports betting window at Horsemen’s Park in November, which produced revenue of $224,000 for November and December.
