Nebraska will allow residents to vote this November on whether they want to legalize online sports betting.
The Secretary of State’s office confirmed on Friday, Aug. 21, that it certified both of the state’s two online sports wagering petitions. One of those pushes a constitutional amendment that would authorize online sports wagering, and the other is a statutory initiative that would outline the regulatory framework for a market model.
Currently, sports betting in the Cornhusker State is limited to in-person wagers at approved retail sportsbooks hosted on-site at licensed racetracks. The regulatory measure would amend existing state law to allow in-state racinos to partner with a maximum of two online sports betting companies to offer mobile wagering statewide.
Led by a group known as Tax Relief Nebraska backed by sportsbooks and casinos, each of the petitions cleared the threshold to appear on the Nov. 3, 2026 general election ballot. State officials must certify the full ballot by Sept. 11. The Secretary of State’s office will hold public hearings on the measures in each of Nebraska’s three congressional districts, at dates to be determined.
If voters say yes in November, the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission would lay out its rules and regulations by June 1, 2027.
Nebraska online betting petitions get almost 350,000 signatures
The petitions needed to beat different thresholds to qualify for the election ballot:
- Constitutional amendment petitions require valid signatures from at least 10% of registered voters in Nebraska (127,054 signatures) and at least 5% of registered voters in 38 of the state’s 93 counties
- Statutory initiative petition requires valid signatures from at least 7% of state voters (88,938 signatures) and 5% of voters in 38 counties
Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s Office confirmed that the Online Sports Wagering Authorization Constitutional Amendment petition and the Online Sports Wagering Regulation Initiative petition each met those signature requirements, hitting at least 138,473 and 96,918. respectively. The state ended the signature verification process once each petition hit 110% of its required total.
Reports in June suggested that the constitutional amendment petition exceeded 201,000 signatures and the regulation initiative petition garnered approximately 146,000 signatures.
“We are grateful to every Nebraskan who participated in the process and signed our petitions,” said Jordan McGrain, a local political consultant working for Tax Relief Nebraska, as quoted by local media including the Nebraska Examiner. “We believe voters will agree that a legal and regulated online sports wagering marketplace will keep the money in Nebraska, generating new revenue for local communities and millions of dollars in property tax relief.”
Sportsbooks giants, Nebraska tribal gaming operator push
The ballot measure progress comes after some lawmakers have tried to legalize online betting in past years.
In 2025, proposed legislation from Sen. Eliot Bostar that would have put online sports wagering on the 2026 election ballot gained bipartisan support and approval by Nebraska’s unicameral legislature on a 27-16 vote in its first floor vote. Bostar ultimately withdrew the proposal after lawmakers spoke in opposition and it was indefinitely postponed in April.
Since early 2026, Tax Relief Nebraska has pushed for the ballot measure, supported and funded by parties including major online sports betting operators, as well as the in-state WarHorse Casino, which is run by Ho-Chunk, Inc., the economic development corporation of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
Filings with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission showed that several major sportsbooks donated significant sums of money to the petition campaigns. FanDuel and DraftKings dedicated around $3.5m each towards the initiative.
WarHorse Casino Director of Government Relations Lynne McNally told local media that the operator held talks with several sportsbooks about potential partnerships should voters approve online sports betting, including FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM.
All of those operators are members of the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA). That entity’s Chairman, Jeremy Kudon, said earlier in August that the association feels confident that the measures will pass.
