Proponents of the Nebraska online sports betting petitions have turned in signatures to the secretary of state for their November ballot bid, a WarHorse Casinos executive confirmed to InGame late Monday.
Though the exact number of signatures submitted Friday isn’t available, Lynne McNally, director of government relations for WarHorse, said proponents are “very comfortable” with the number. Initiative sponsors usually collect at least 10% more signatures than required, as they must be validated. That process involves confirming that each person was a registered voter by the deadline for signatures and that each person signed the petition only one time. Additionally, signatures must be collected from 5% of registered voters in 38 of the state’s 93 counties.
According to the secretary of state’s site, 1,254,120 voters were registered in the state as of Jan. 1. Using that number, 87,788 signatures would be needed to get an initiative on the ballot, and 125,412 would be needed for a constitutional amendment.
Sponsors circulated two petitions — one constitutional amendment and one initiative that includes an online sports betting regulatory framework. If approved, the proposals will be on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The constitutional amendment would expand the state’s sports betting law to include statewide online sports betting on platforms tethered to an existing “authorized gaming operator.” The regulatory initiative calls for licensed retail locations to offer up to two skins, or digital platforms, with all digital bets to flow through servers located in Nebraska. The proposal would require the state gaming regulator to promulgate rules by June 1, 2027.
Proposals could be approved in August
Nebraska voters legalized in-person sports betting in November 2020, with the first bets taken in June 2023. Retail sports betting is taxed at 20% of adjusted gross revenue. The new proposals call for the bulk of the tax dollars sent to the state from online sports betting to be used for property tax relief.
From here, the secretary of state’s office will confirm that enough signatures were submitted and then share them with officials from each county. Local governments have 40 days from when the signatures are received to validate and return the lists. The secretary of state will then review the signatures before certifying the proposal for the ballot.
During the validation and certification process, the attorney general’s office will craft titles and language for the ballot question.
Given the timeline, it appears that the proposals could be approved and ready for the ballot by early to mid-August, at which point Tax Relief Nebraska, the committee running the initiatives, could start advertising.
Goal is to ‘recapture’ lost tax revenue
National operators support the constitutional amendment and initiative petitions. DraftKings and FanDuel initially staked the effort with $1.1 million each while BetMGM and Fanatics Betting & Gaming also put money into the campaign. DraftKings and FanDuel added an additional $1.5 million each in May, according to Nebraska Public Radio.
Locally, the proposals are being pushed by WarHorse Casinos.
“We intend to educate Nebraskans about our intention to recapture the tax revenue we are losing to nearby states and other locations because Nebraskans are already betting on sports, they are just not doing it legally,” McNally said. “We want to keep more money in Nebraska by creating a way to tax and regulate this mobile industry.”
All six of Nebraska’s border states offer some form of legal sports betting, including available mobile wagering in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Wyoming.
