Kearney City Council, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
KEARNEY — There were several public comments regarding the City of Kearney and its choice in naming the next Keno operator within the community during their meeting on Tuesday, June 24.
Brenda Jensen, City Manager, gave the context regarding Keno operation in Kearney, which goes back to 1990 when Kearney voters approved Keno for the purpose of community betterment.
After 1990, the city has had two entities operating Keno on its behalf, Kearney Keno, Inc. and Kearney Gaming, LLC. Since 2001, Kearney Gaming has been the exclusive Keno operator in Kearney.
In August 2025, the present contract with Kearney Gaming was set to terminate. On August 13, 2024, the Council authorized the City Manager to give notice of non-renewal to Kearney Gaming.
The council wished to pursue a request for proposals (RFP) to determine if there would be any other Keno operators that wished to submit to be the sole Keno operator in the community.
On April 1, the city issued a request for Keno operators, which closed on May 14. The city received proposals from Big Red Keno, Kearney Gaming and Community First Keno.
City Manager Jensen created a Keno RFP review committee made up of two council members, three community members and city staff to review the proposals that were submitted. The committee conducted interviews with all three groups.
“The Committee scored each interview based on the following criteria: uniqueness compared to other proposals, key personnel, experience, payout structure, handling of shortages, technology utilization, vision for Keno in Kearney, and handling of game interruptions,” per the City of Kearney.
After the interviews, the committee recommended Big Red Keno to become the next operator in Kearney. It was noted they have been operating Keno since 1991 and have 270 keno locations and operate in Omaha, Lincoln, Fremon and Norfolk.
Per the agreement, the City of Kearney and City of Omaha would create a joint Keno lottery operation. The City of Kearney would receive a guaranteed 8.75 percent of gross Keno sales in the community for community betterment. It was noted this was a higher percentage than the current agreement.
“The local businesses/satellite Keno locations would receive a higher percentage share of the gross sales made at their individual locations, with no cap,” the City of Kearney stated.
There were several who spoke during the public comment period, many who were advocating for the council to award the agreement to a local operator.
Michael Neviry, the owner of Kearney Gaming, who is based in Hastings said that over the past 24 years in Kearney their sales have exceeded $135 million.
There were other concerns from bar owners, whose staff would have to man the Keno machines, something that Kearney Gaming and provided staff for.
Todd Schirmer, co-owner of Fanatics in downtown Kearney, said that his staff would likely be unable to write Keno tickets while also keeping up with the busiest rush times.
“I’m a big advocate of keeping our dollars local,” said Derek Rusher, Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO,” Not in Hastings, not in Omaha. Let’s keep them in Kearney.”
Council member Kurt Schmit said later in the meeting that those profits have left the community for 24 years, going outside to Hastings. He said he is new to the council, but he said he hasn’t heard profits leaving to have been an issue in the past.
Council member Tami James Moore said she was on the committee who made the decision and said while she wanted to see a local group be named, they had to follow criteria carefully and by their metrics, Big Red Keno had the best proposal.
Council member Randy Bushkoetter was also on the committee and said they have to follow their criteria to the letter and did not want the City of Kearney to gain a reputation o stacking the deck in favor of a local business, but looking at all the proposals equally.
Mayor Jonathan Nikkila said when they opened up for proposals, they wanted it to be a competitive process and said they will have to monitor for the future when they again request proposals.
Council member Alex Straatmann said that the committee had to closely follow a process and noted that while it is difficult to balance all the different interests in this situation, he said he wasn’t going to overturn the decision of the committee.
It was also noted by the council that the City of Kearney does not benefit from the Keno funds, but holds them for the community betterment fund, which area entities can apply for.
In the end, the council voted unanimously to award the proposal to Big Red Keno.