Will Nebraska Voters Approve Mobile Sports Betting?

We are under two months away from the midterm elections. New Senators, House members, and so on will be voted in.

One state, however, will be voting on legalized sports betting. We’re talking about Nebraska, which will have two betting-related topics on the ballot.

One measure would change the state’s constitutional amendment, while the other would introduce a regulatory framework for online sports betting. At the moment, Nebraska betting only allows in-person betting so this is a seismic possible change for the state.

Will it pass come November 3, though? That’s the billion-dollar question and one we intend to dig into in this article. Let’s look at how things are trending at the moment.

Betting Momentum Is Strong In Nebraska

The reason voters will decide on the issue is because of a concentrated push by the top sports betting apps. The likes of FanDuel, DraftKings, Fanatics, and BetMGM helped bankroll a campaign to get enough signatures for the ballot placement. In total, they spent $7 million on the push — and it worked to perfection.

There is little reason to think the spending stops here, too. The group the apps bankrolled, Tax Relief Nebraska, won’t have their first general election campaign finance report due October 5. That’s when we’ll have a clear idea of just how aggressively the operators will be bankrolling them before the vote.

We’d guess it’ll be a lot, though. For one, they have to recoup the $7 million that’s already been donated. And two, Nebraska is the only state with this on the ballot this year. Operators want more markets to enter, and right now, this is the only option.

You’d think that means focused spending in Nebraska, right? We sure do!

Nebraska Is Small, But The Sports Market Isn’t

Most people consider Nebraska just another flyover state. And to a certain extent, they’d be right. The state has just over 2 million residents and no NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL team of its own. There’s the collegiate Cornhusker team, and that’s about it.

But ironically, that tells you why expanding Nebraska betting matters in the first place. Get this, Nebraska football averaged roughly 86,900 fans per home game during the 2025 season, while Nebraska Athletics ranked sixth nationally in total attendance across seven major sports during the 2025-26 academic year. More than 1.34 million fans attended those events, per the school department.

This is a sports-crazed state. On a per capita basis, Nebraska can likely hang with just about any state in that regard.

Not only that, but there’s a proven appetite for betting on sports in the state, not just watching them. Nebraska’s retail sportsbooks generated around $9.3 million in sports betting revenue during 2025 — nearly double the previous year.

Even more interestingly, GeoComply found roughly 75,000 attempts to place online sports bets from inside Nebraska during the 2024-25 NFL season. Another 2,800 people were identified crossing from Nebraska into Iowa to legally place mobile bets. Sounds like there’s some built-in demand already, no?

So no, Nebraska isn’t going to become the next massive betting market at the scale of New York. But between the state’s sports culture, existing retail numbers, and thousands of people already trying to bet online, there is clearly an untapped market there.

The Opposition Is Starting To Assemble Together

While momentum is strongly in favor of these two ballots passing, we’d stop short of calling it a foregone conclusion. In fact, we’re already seeing the opposition band together.

A group called Save Nebraska Sports officially launched its campaign against the two measures in September. The coalition includes Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley, State Treasurer Joey Spellerberg, former Nebraska football coach Ron Brown, and the Nebraska Family Alliance. Former Huskers coach Tom Osborne has also publicly opposed the effort, which is no small thing given Osborne’s legendary status inside the state.

Supporters have pushed mobile betting partly as a way to generate additional tax revenue and property tax relief. Under the proposed framework, 70% of the tax revenue collected would go toward property tax credits. Opponents argue that the benefit is being way oversold. Foley has called the property tax pitch a “false promise,” while the coalition has focused heavily on gambling addiction, the ease of placing bets from a phone, and potential problems surrounding college athletics like their own Cornhuskers.

That gives voters two very different ways to look at things. On one hand, proponents can point to money already leaving the state, an existing appetite for betting, and tax revenue Nebraska isn’t currently collecting from offshore betting or prediction markets.

On the other end, opponents can point to the social costs that come with making gambling available anywhere in the state within seconds. And if they’re smart, they’d say it could corrupt Nebraska student-athletes who would be prime targets for bribes from bettors.

We won’t know how voters decide to choose sides until November 3. But between now and then, Nebraska is about to become the most closely watched sports betting battle in the country.