Nebraska Could Put Online Sports Betting on the November 3 Ballot

Tax Relief Nebraska says it has enough valid signatures to place two petitions to legalize online sports betting on the November 3 ballot. For PSPs and merchants watching U.S. high-risk openings, the practical point is simple: if this gets on the ballot and passes, Nebraska becomes another state where mobile wagering can move from gray-border behavior to regulated volume.

1. Legalization has been under discussion in Nebraska since last year. In January, two separate bills to legalize online sports betting carried over into the legislative season, but it has taken more than half a year for Legislative Resolution 20CA, the second bill, to gather enough traction to reach the ballot stage.
2. Tax Relief Nebraska is confident it has secured enough valid signatures to put two petitions on the November 3 ballot. The group’s push is aimed at legalizing online sports betting, not just expanding retail wagering.
3. Opponents argue the issue is not just about revenue. Pat Loontjer, executive director of Gambling with the Good Life, said wagering is damaging college sports and placing financial strain on individuals, especially young people. Mike Sciandra of the Nebraska Council on Problem Gambling said the council is neutral but wants safeguards in place, adding that mobile sports betting has been shown in other states to be roughly three to four times more addictive and more likely to contribute to problem gambling than traditional casino gambling.
4. Tax collection is another friction point. Ryan Butler, a senior editor covering the gaming industry for Covers, said collecting taxes would be a logistical challenge because determining which county should receive tax revenue could become complicated when a bettor moves through multiple counties while using a sports betting app.
5. Supporters say the market already exists in practice. Testimony before the Nebraska Legislature from a geofencing company showed that, over one year, residents crossed the state border roughly 40,000 times to place mobile sports bets in states where online wagering is legal, with neighboring Iowa as the most common destination. WarHorse Casinos, the leading casino operator in the state, publicly supports the bills and last year announced a $300 million expansion.

Lynne McNally, director of government relations at WarHorse Casinos, said using paid petition circulators is essential to having a realistic chance of getting the measure on the ballot. For payment providers, the larger signal is that Nebraska’s online sports betting debate is now moving from legislature to direct voter approval, which is the point at which operator planning usually gets more concrete and the compliance questions get more expensive.