Nebraska voters appear to have rejected a pair of ballot measures aimed at legalizing and regulating online sports betting, according to unofficial results. Initiative Measures 440 and 441 would have amended the Nebraska Constitution and state law to allow online sports wagers.
As of midnight, Initiative 440 had 239,331 votes “for” and 285,520 “against”, while Initiative 441 had 241,599 votes “for” and 283,159 “against”.
In 2020, Nebraskans authorized casino gambling at the state’s existing five racetracks, with annual gaming revenue taxed at 20% and 70% of that amount directed to property tax relief credits. Since then, there have been multiple attempts to legalize online sports betting in the Nebraska Legislature, but all have been unsuccessful.
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Supporters of the initiatives argued that Nebraskans would participate in online wagering regardless of state law, sending tax revenue to other states like Iowa that have legalized the practice. Critics, however, argued that the possible revenue benefits did not outweigh the social costs of encouraging gambling.
Tax Relief Nebraska’s campaign was opposed by a collection of advocacy groups and state officials, including State Auditor Mike Foley and Treasurer Joey Spellerberg, who backed the dedicated opposition campaign Save Nebraska Sports. Spellerberg celebrated the initiatives’ apparent failure, describing the gambling battle as a “David and Goliath” matchup.
Spellerberg said the results showed that Nebraskans did not want the harmful impacts of gambling in their state, and that voters understood the actual tax benefits of legalizing online sports betting would be negligible. “Voters in Nebraska looked right past that,” Spellerberg said.
