Proponents of a pair of Nebraska ballot initiatives that would bring statewide online sports betting to the state say they are on target to deliver the needed signatures to the secretary of state later this week. Should the secretary of state verify the signatures, the proposals will go on the Nov. 3 ballot, and Nebraska could become the second state in 2026 to add mobile wagering to its gambling offerings.
Backed by Nebraska casinos and national digital sports betting companies, the proposal includes a constitutional amendment to allow online sports betting and an initiative that outlines how it would be regulated. In-person sports betting has been legal in the Nebraska since November 2020, when voters approved it. The first bets were taken in June 2023.
InGame broke the news in January that commercial operators, including FanDuel, were backing the plan.
Nebraska is surrounded by states that offer legal online sports betting, including Iowa, where every football season Nebraskans gather in a cornfield just over the border to place mobile sports bets — particularly when the Cornhuskers are playing at home. Current law does not allow those in Nebraska to bet on local college teams when they are playing at home.
Petition result of legislative logjam
The petition was approved for circulation in February. From there, proponents were tasked with gathering qualified signatures from 7% of registered voters for an initiative and 10% for a constitutional amendment. In addition, qualified signatures from 5% of registered voters in 39 of the state’s 93 counties are required. According to the SOS site, 1,254,120 voters were registered in the state as of Jan. 1.
Once a petition is received, the state then has up to 50 days to verify signatures and put an initiative on the ballot. There are currently 12 petitions that have been approved for circulation.
Nebraska Public Radio reported Friday that representatives of Tax Relief Nebraska, the committee running the initiative, said it was on schedule, but no details were provided. As with in-person wagering, some tax dollars from online sports betting would be earmarked for property tax relief in a state where rates can reach up to 2.1%, depending on county of residence.
Nebraksa lawmakers have considered a gambling expansion for several sessions, but they have been unable to reach a consensus. The legislature in 2025 considered expanding sports betting to the digital realm, but the package of bills that would also have ultimately sent the decision to voters was killed via filibuster in April. Bill sponsor Eliot Bostar pulled his constitutional amendment 3½ hours into a filibuster, likely because he did not have the votes.
The inability to reach a compromise is what ultimately resulted in the initiative effort, which is being led locally by WarHorse Casinos.
“These are things that have been presented to the legislature over and over and over, and they continually stand in the way,” WarHorse Director of Government Relations Lynne McNally told Nebraska Public Radio.
Wisconsin added OSB earlier this year
The only state this year to approve a gambling expansion that would allow for online sports betting is Wisconsin. Lawmakers there in March passed a bill that legalizes sports betting with the tribes in charge. Wisconsin has 11 gaming tribes, and all must recompact with the state to be able to offer statewide digital wagering.
In Wisconsin, lawmakers approved a hub-and-spoke model of online sports betting for tribes, meaning they will retain exclusivity for gambling and be able to offer bets throughout the state as long as they flow through a server on tribal land.
Wisconsin is the first state to expand or legalize any form of sports betting since 2024.
