Save Nebraska Sports launches campaign against Nebraska online betting measures

A coalition called Save Nebraska Sports has started a campaign against two ballot measures that would legalize online sports betting in Nebraska on November 3. For high-risk operators, the key point is simple: the debate is not just about wagering access, but about whether promised tax relief is enough to justify moving betting from licensed racetrack casinos onto phones.

1. The campaign was launched by Save Nebraska Sports, which is opposing two measures sponsored by Tax Relief Nebraska. Both measures are set to appear on the November 3 general election ballot.
2. At the launch, speakers included Nebraska state auditor Mike Foley, state treasurer Joey Spellerberg and University of Nebraska football assistant coach Ron Brown. Nate Grasz, executive director of the Nebraska Family Alliance, also read a statement from former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne, who was not present.
3. Foley said voters were being offered a “false promise of property tax relief,” arguing that any tax collected would be small compared with the sums that would flow to out-of-state operators. Spellerberg said an estimated $87m in property tax relief would first require Nebraskans to lose more than $435m in bets.
4. Osborne’s statement focused on the mechanics of sportsbook pressure on student athletes. He said that criticism often comes not from losing, but from failing to beat a point spread or reach a certain number of yards, completions or touchdowns, and argued that online sports gambling turns an athletic contest into a gambling exercise with someone else’s money riding on the performance of young men and women.
5. Nebraska currently allows sports betting only in person at licensed racetrack casinos. Voters authorized that retail market, along with racetrack casinos, in 2020. One proposed measure would amend the Nebraska constitution to authorize online sports wagering when the bettor is physically in the state; the companion statutory initiative would set the regulatory and tax framework and direct the state gaming commission to adopt rules for operators and wagers.

If approved, 70 per cent of the resulting tax revenue would go to property tax credits, matching the allocation used for casino taxes. A report commissioned by Tax Relief Nebraska estimated just under $87m in new state tax revenue over five years.