The campaign working to put online Nebraska sports betting on the ballot has turned in its petitions early with more signatures than required.
Tax Relief Nebraska, the group behind the campaign, turned in more than 350,000 signatures for its pair of initiative petitions, according to the Nebraska Secretary of State. The signatures were turned in Friday, ahead of the July 2 deadline.
One of the initiatives would legalize online Nebraska sports betting. The other creates the regulatory framework to tax sports betting and sends 70% of the funds to property tax relief.
Nebraska sports betting signatures
The group collected more than 201,000 signatures for the initiative to legalize online sports betting. That’s above the 126,000 signatures needed for a constitutional amendment.
It collected 146,000 signatures for the framework initiative, above the 88,000 needed for a normal measure.
The Secretary of State’s Office is verifying the signatures, before certifying the ballot questions.
What the initiative does
The initiative would allow state-regulated online sports betting in Nebraska for people 21 and older. It would create a licensing framework for online sportsbooks and require operators to pay taxes on gross revenue.
Sports betting is already legal in Nebraska, but only in-person at tribal casinos.
If approved at the ballot, the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission would need to adjust the state’s gambling rules on or before June 1, 2027.
WarHorse behind sports betting push
The campaign is led by WarHorse, a Nebraska-based racetrack and casino operator, along with a group of online sportsbook operators and local investors backing the ballot effort.
DraftKings and FanDuel each contributed more than $1 million to the ballot campaign, giving the initiative significant financial backing from major online sportsbook brands.
WarHorse has pushed for online sports betting in Nebraska for years, and the ballot campaign is its latest attempt to get the measure on the ballot after legislative efforts failed.
The group says allowing online betting would generate new tax revenue, create jobs and keep gambling activity in the state rather than letting it go to offshore or out-of-state operators.
Previous ballot push in Nebraska
The 2026 ballot effort follows a 2025 legislative attempt to put online sports betting on the ballot, which did not make it through the legislature and was pulled from the ballot.
The 2026 campaign is designed to bypass the legislature and go directly to voters, which supporters say is the fastest way to get online sports betting approved.
The group began collecting signatures in February after hinting at the campaign last fall.
Nebraska sports betting background
Nebraska voters legalized casino-style gambling, including in-person sports betting, in November 2020.
The past few sessions have included lawmaker discussions about legalizing online sports betting, but nothing successful.
Gov. Jim Pillen called for ways to provide residents property tax relief in 2024, and voiced support for sports betting as a tool. Lawmakers however, did not take it up during a special session following that call.
Sen. Eliot Bostar sponsored a bill in 2025, but pulled it when it was clear there was not enough support for the bill. Still, even opponents were wary of letting the industry control any eventual expansion of gambling in the state.
“I’ve got a lot of heartburn about mobile sports betting,” Sen. John Cavanaugh said during a 2025 hearing. “But if we don’t do this, they will put it on the ballot. And it will be more expansive than this.”
