The biggest online sportsbooks are pouring major money into efforts to bring online sports betting to the Cornhusker State, and it could happen sooner than many believe.
Sportsbooks Donating to Nebraska Petition Drives
Tax Relief Nebraska is a ballot question committee that operates similarly to a political action committee (PAC) to influence elections and ballot questions. It only works if it is funded, and two of the nation’s online sports betting powerhouses, DraftKings and FanDuel, have each donated $1.1 million apiece to the organization.
In addition to the dynamic duo of American digital sports betting, Fanatics and Roar Digital—a joint venture between BetMGM and Entain—have also donated to the cause. And that cause just happens to be getting at least one of two petitions on the ballot so that Nebraskans can decide for themselves whether to bring sports betting to the masses.
One petition would alter Nebraska’s constitution to allow for online sports betting in Nebraska, which would require signatures from 10% of the state’s registered voters. The other petition would change gambling regulations and requires signatures from seven percent of Nebraskans.
Let the People Decide
Nebraska legislators have had several opportunities to pass online sports betting bills, but they have failed to do so on every occasion, largely due to concerns over regulation and potential negative impacts on gambling addiction. However, they did pass the retail version in 2020, which allows sportsbooks inside the state’s four tribal casinos.
It is eerily reminiscent of the legislative impasse in Missouri that forced the state’s professional sports teams to form a political action committee named Winning for Missouri Education. The PAC generated millions of dollars through various sources, including sportsbooks, to collect enough signatures to get the sports betting question on the ballot, circumventing the conflicted Missouri legislature.
The necessary signatures were gathered, the proposal to legalize online and retail sports betting was placed on the ballot, and in November 2024, Constitutional Amendment 2 was narrowly approved. Missouri’s sports betting industry officially launched on December 1, 2025, generating millions of dollars for the Show Me State.
And now Nebraska’s tribal casinos, led by War Horse Casino, appear to have ripped a page right out of that playbook. Two petitions have been filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State, one of which would amend the state constitution’s gambling language, while the other would change the state’s regulations.
The Path to the Ballot: Gathering Signatures
Senator John Cavanaugh made a prescient comment during one legislative sequence regarding the sports betting question: “I’ve got a lot of heartburn about mobile sports betting,” said Cavanaugh during a hearing. “But if we don’t do this, they will put it on the ballot. And it will be more expansive than this.”
And that is precisely what is happening.
Lance Morgan, CEO of Warhorse Casino, is leading the effort, saying, “I don’t think it will be any trouble getting it passed. Our polling shows it’s somewhere around a 70 percent approval rating. And that’s before sports betting really took off here.”
As for the rules and regulations required to get the question on the ballot, Morgan stated, “We need signatures from five percent of the people who voted in the last election — that number, so if 100 people voted, you need five — but you need it from 38 counties.”
Morgan said the goal was to obtain 300,000 verified signatures from Missouri residents, which would be more than double the required amount. In order to get on the ballot, the signatures must be turned in by July 3rd to the Secretary of State’s office.
