Save Nebraska Sports launched a campaign Thursday opposing two statewide ballot measures that would legalize and regulate online sports betting in Nebraska, with State Auditor Mike Foley and Treasurer Joey Spellerberg among the officials backing the effort. The group held a press conference at the Nebraska Capitol ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, when voters will decide both measures.
Foley and Spellerberg were joined by former Husker football coach Ron Brown and Nebraska Family Alliance Executive Director Nate Grasz, who together argued the initiatives would undermine the integrity of college sports in the state. The measures were placed on the ballot by a group called Tax Relief Nebraska.
One proposal would amend the section of the state constitution that voters changed in 2020 to legalize gambling and casinos at licensed racetracks, extending that authorization to online sports wagering at those locations. The second would amend three existing state laws to define and regulate online sports betting for anyone physically located in Nebraska at the time of the wager.
How the proposed online betting system would work
Under the statutory measure, computer servers hosting online sports-wagering platforms would need to be located within Nebraska, and gaming operators could run no more than two platforms at a time. The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission would be required to adopt rules and regulations by June 1, 2027, if voters approve the measures.
Nebraska currently has six licensed racetracks, sometimes called racinos, in Grand Island, Ogallala, Lincoln, Omaha, Columbus and South Sioux City. The debate echoes broader national tension over how far states should extend legal wagering, a theme also playing out in Oklahoma’s prediction-market regulatory fight and in tribal gaming opposition to new wagering formats.
Foley argued that Tax Relief Nebraska’s property-tax-relief pitch amounts to a false promise, contending the state’s tax take would be small compared to the money flowing to out-of-state operators FanDuel and DraftKings. Brown drew a comparison between gambling expansion and the harms he associates with greed, while Grasz read a statement from former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne opposing the measures; Osborne did not attend.
Tax Relief Nebraska has said its initiative would generate new revenue for local communities and millions of dollars in property tax relief. The neighboring market shift seen in Kansas’s legal sports betting rollout along the Missouri border illustrates the competitive stakes for Nebraska’s racetrack operators as the vote approaches.
Nebraska voters will settle both measures on Nov. 3. If either or both pass, the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission would face a June 1, 2027 deadline to finalize rules and regulations governing the new market.
Petra Vanhoof has spent the better part of a decade following the shifting tides of gambling regulation across Europe and beyond. She came up through the compliance side of the industry before pivoting to writing, which gives her a grounded, no-nonsense perspective on the rules, loopholes, and political maneuvering that shape how operators actually do business. She is particularly drawn to the gap between what regulators say and what the market ends up doing in response.