Nebraska voters rejected statewide online sports betting Tuesday night, with the Nebraska Family Foundation declaring victory, keeping legal wagers at racetrack casinos. This comes despite a sportsbook-backed campaign that raised nearly $22 million by October. It wasn't enough to sway voters to back mobile wagering.
- Voters rejected both the constitutional amendment and the companion regulatory measure.
- The campaign raised nearly $22 million by late October, with FanDuel and DraftKings providing most of the money.
- Legal wagers remain limited to racetrack casinos, and the proposed route to a 2027 mobile launch ended.
Voters turned down "Initiative 440," which would have amended the state constitution to authorize online wagering, and "Initiative 441," which would have set the rules for licensed racetrack casino operators and their platform partners.
The result leaves Nebraska’s existing retail market in place. It also ends the campaign’s proposed route to a 2027 mobile launch and leaves supporters without the additional gaming tax revenue they had promoted as a source of property tax relief.
Property tax pitch falls short
Tax Relief Nebraska, the leading campaign organization behind the measures, had argued that residents already used offshore books or traveled to neighboring states such as Iowa to bet on their phones. Bringing some of that activity into Nebraska’s regulated market, supporters said, would give the state a new source of revenue under its existing gaming tax.
The proposal would have applied the current 20% in-person gaming tax to online sportsbook revenue, with 70% of the proceeds directed toward property tax relief. Opponents, argued that mobile access would make gambling easier and could increase financial harm. They also questioned whether the additional tax revenue would provide meaningful relief for homeowners.
A study cited by Tax Relief Nebraska estimated the measure would generate about $238 million in total tax relief over the next 10 years. In-person sportsbooks have generated a little more than $4 million since the first locations opened in summer 2023.
FanDuel and DraftKings supplied most of the money behind the campaign. The companies helped fund both the signature drive and the general election push, giving proponents a way to take the issue directly to voters after legalization had failed to advance through the legislature.
The defeat marks a different outcome from 2020, when Nebraskans overwhelmingly approved expanded casino gambling at racetracks.
This time, voters decided to keep the in-person gaming restrictions in place. Online wagering has drawn increased criticism from federal and some state lawmakers as it has become a high-profile, multibillion industry in more than 30 states across the country.
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Retail sportsbooks keep their place
The measures would have allowed each authorized gaming operator to offer up to two online platforms, creating room for as many as 12 mobile sportsbooks across six current or planned gaming facilities. National operators would have needed agreements with licensed Nebraska operators to enter the market.
The regulatory measure would also have required the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission to adopt online wagering rules by June 1, 2027. That deadline gave operators a possible path to opening before football season, subject to regulatory approvals and preparations.
Nebraska bettors can continue placing legal wagers in person at racetrack casinos. The state’s existing restriction on wagers involving Nebraska college teams playing in the state also remains in place.
A renewed push could return to the legislature or start with another petition drive, but a voter defeat likely kills efforts on both paths for the near future. A "best-case" scenario would mean mobile betting couldn't start until 2029 at the earliest, following the 2028 presidential election. Follow the latest US presidential election odds for broader political betting coverage.
In the meantime, traders physically within Nebraska can still place event contracts on professional and college sporting events, including football and basketball.
Either route would have to address the concerns that shaped this campaign, including how much tax relief mobile betting could deliver and what safeguards would apply once wagering moved beyond casino floors – along with political realities that defeated online wagering legalization.
