Nebraska voters rejected two ballot measures that would have authorized and regulated online sports betting, preserving a system in which wagers must be placed in person at licensed racetrack casinos.
Initiative 440, the proposed constitutional amendment, received 329,309 votes in favor and 400,671 against, according to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s election results. Initiative 441, its statutory companion, received 332,342 votes for and 397,583 against.
The ballot decision followed the certification of the two measures in August, as this publication previously reported. Tax Relief Nebraska had submitted more than 201,000 signatures for the constitutional amendment and 146,000 for the regulatory proposal.
Measure 440 would have authorized legislation allowing people in Nebraska to make sports wagers through internet platforms operated by authorized gaming operators at licensed racetrack enclosures. Measure 441 would have established the governing statutes, permitting operators to run platforms themselves or use contracted providers.
The regulatory measure would have limited wagering to people located within Nebraska and required the servers used for online betting to be in the state. It would also have capped each operator at two platforms run by providers. Had it passed, the law would have taken effect Jan. 1, 2027, and required the State Racing and Gaming Commission to issue regulations by June 1, 2027.
Online and mobile wagering remain unauthorized in Nebraska. The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission says sports bets must be placed at an approved sportsbook window or kiosk in a designated wagering area at a licensed racetrack enclosure. Nebraska Public Media reported that there are five racetrack casinos where in-person betting is permitted.
Supporters had argued that the in-person restriction was sending business and tax revenue across state lines or to offshore sites. A 2025 Nebraska Legislature research report said GeoComply identified about 118,000 unique mobile sports-gambling accounts in the state in 2024, up 45% from the preceding year. It also recorded roughly 40,000 border crossings to place legal mobile bets from July 2023 through June 2024, an 84% annual increase; 82% of those tracked bets were ultimately placed in Iowa and 14% in Colorado.
Tax Relief Nebraska estimated that legalization could have produced nearly $87 million in new state tax revenue over five years, including about $61 million in property-tax relief. Supporters of Initiative 440 projected more than $166 million in direct property-tax relief over a decade, while the campaign argued that 70% of tax proceeds would be directed to that purpose.
Opponents, including the Save Nebraska Sports coalition and Nebraska Family Alliance, said easier mobile access would worsen gambling-related harm and principally benefit companies based outside the state. Nate Grasz of the Nebraska Family Alliance said the measures were intended to enrich out-of-state companies rather than assist Nebraska families or reduce property taxes.
The campaign was heavily financed. Gambling News put spending to promote legalization at $22 million, while Gaming America reported that sportsbooks including FanDuel, DraftKings, Fanatics and MGM contributed more than $20 million. Joey Spellerberg said the opposition had been outspent 20-to-1.
The defeat leaves Nebraska outside the group of 31 states and the District of Columbia that had authorized mobile sports betting after Missouri voters approved it in November 2024, according to the Legislature’s research report. Nebraska sportsbooks opened in 2023 after the state’s 2020 casino-gambling ballot initiatives and subsequent legislation allowed sports wagering at licensed casinos.
