On Friday, the office of Secretary of State Bob Evnen confirmed that the constitutional amendment to allow online sports betting and the initiative to regulate online sports betting have qualified for the November 3rd ballot. As they are considered separately, the state could allow online betting while rejecting the regulatory framework meant to govern it, or vice versa.
On Friday, June 26th, before the July 2nd deadline, the organization 'Tax Relief Nebraska' submitted over 201,000 signatures in support of the amendment and approximately 146,000 for the initiative. The Nebraska Examiner reported at the time that the amendment required about 126,000 valid signatures, and the initiative required around 88,000.
The campaign is funded by the operators who would run the market. According to documents filed with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, companies FanDuel and DraftKings each contributed about $3.5 million. Lynn McNally, the government affairs director for the WarHorse casino, which is acting as the local sponsor, told the Nebraska Examiner that WarHorse has agreements with FanDuel, DraftKings, and MGM to operate under a mechanism that voters have not yet approved.
These operators are already competing with a channel that doesn't require a referendum. Kalshi and Polymarket offer sports contracts nationwide as exchanges registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Nebraska is not among the states that have sued or issued cease-and-desist orders against them. Their products are already available in the state while the betting regulation measures are still in the campaign stage.
The legislative initiative stipulates that 70% of gambling tax revenue be directed toward property tax credits—the same share paid by casinos—and a report commissioned by Tax Relief Nebraska estimates revenue from this measure at just under $87 million over five years. Nate Grasz, executive director of the Nebraska Family Alliance, stated that according to this forecast, Nebraskans would place about $435 million in online bets during that period. McNally referenced the current system: state data shows that Nebraska's five casinos generated over $52.3 million in gambling tax revenue in 2025, with approximately $36.6 million going to property tax relief. "If this isn't property tax relief, I don't know what is," she said.
The Lincoln Journal Star first reported that county election officials had turned over information to authorities regarding suspected gambling petition fraud, and the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office expanded its petition fraud investigation to include all four citizen initiatives statewide; on August 19th, Chief Deputy Sheriff Ben Houchin said "thousands and thousands" of signatures were under review.
The six petition circulators arrested thus far were hired to collect signatures for three unrelated city charter petitions in Lincoln, and Tax Relief Nebraska used a different firm. Signatures under suspicion are excluded from the valid signature count, so they are already not reflected in the certified totals. McNally explained that the firm working on the gambling campaign verified signatures for authenticity as they were collected: "It doesn't benefit anyone to submit signatures that are under suspicion."
These measures would limit gambling operators to two online platforms simultaneously and require servers for accepting bets to be located in Nebraska, with the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission required to adopt relevant rules by June 1, 2027. Evnen's office must certify the full list of ballot questions by September 11th and will hold hearings in each of the state's three congressional districts. The Examiner noted that these measures will take effect for voters without the need for litigation after certification.
Other states have responded differently to this issue. North Carolina's budget includes a provision to impose a 6% tax on prediction market operators' net revenue from trading fees starting January 1, 2027, while the state declines to grant them licenses, raising the tax on sportsbooks to 23% of gross betting revenue. Pennsylvania House Bill 2711 would prohibit gambling companies from acting as market makers on prediction platforms. Massachusetts deemed licensing the solution: the state reopened the application process in April, and Gaming Commission Chair Jordan Maynard said he was "encouraged that people want to get into the market, while the prediction markets that we categorically don't allow are seeking to get into sports betting."
