Nebraska Petition For Online Sports Betting Moving Ahead
Jesse M. Cox Published 02/07/2026
Tax Relief Nebraska, the group seeking to have legal online sports betting approved in Nebraska, has taken a significant step forward in its attempt to do so. The group accumulated the necessary signatures to petition the state government to hold a referendum on whether to change the state constitution to permit online sports betting in Nebraska. The signed petitions were turned in to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office on June 26, nearly a week before the July 2 filing deadline.
Currently, Nebraska does offer legal and regulated sports betting. However, it is limited to retail sports betting. All wagers must be placed in person at one of the state's five racetrack casinos.
Tax Relief Nebraska far exceeded the required number of signatures
The number of signatures accumulated by Tax Relief Nebraska was a vastly larger total than is necessary to compel the state to put the measure on the November 2026 election ballot. According to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office, the group turned in more than 201,000 signatures for its petition seeking a constitutional amendment to legalize online sports betting in the state. There were 146,000 signatures for a second petition to create the regulatory framework to tax the wagers.
The group only needed approximately 126,000 for the constitutional amendment and 88,000 for the tax relief petition. This should mean that both referendums would be placed on the November 2026 ballot.
To force a vote on a constitutional amendment, Nebraska law requires that petitioners collect signatures from 10% of the state's registered voters. For a simple referendum, the requirement is signatures from a minimum of 5% of all registered voters. Another requirement is that at least 5% of all registered voters in 38 of Nebraska's 93 counties sign the petition.
The next step is for counties to verify the signatures. They have 40 days in which to do so. Then the Secretary of State would certify the measures for the ballot. It's expected that the process could take several weeks to complete.
The plan is for online sports betting taxes to provide property tax relief
Of the tax amount to be collected, 70% of the funds would be designated to provide property tax relief. That's the same percentage currently taken from casino taxes.
Expectations are that online sports betting will prove to be a massive money maker for the state. Retail sports betting in Nebraska generated $9.3 billion in revenue in 2025. That's according to data compiled by the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission. That resulted in the state collecting $2 million in tax revenue.
Estimates are that online sports betting could generate in excess of $30 million annually for Nebraska's tax coffers.
“If that’s not property tax relief, I don’t know what is,” Lynne McNally, head of government relations for WarHorse Casinos, told the Nebraska Examiner.
Once online sports betting is legalized in the state, operators of the WarHorse Casino, home to retail sports betting, intend to partner with one of the major U.S. sportsbooks. They've spoken to BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel.
Petition organizers are confident that the measures will pass
There has been some opposition to the plan to legalize online sports betting, mostly from the conservative Nebraska Family Alliance.
“To tell voters this is about tax relief, when the proposal is actually a major expansion of online gambling financed by out-of-state gambling companies — whose own estimates show less than a quarter of one percent in property tax relief — is a complete sham and raises serious questions about election integrity,” Nate Grasz, executive director of the Nebraska Family Alliance, said in a press release.
Still, Tax Relief Nebraska representatives remain confident that the measures will pass if the option is presented in November.
“Based on the feedback we've received so far, we're optimistic that if we're on the ballot in November, then we should be seeing legalized mobile sports betting after that,” McNally told Nebraska Public Media.
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