Nebraska Voters Reject Ballot Measures to Legalize Online Sports Betting

Nebraska voters rejected two linked ballot initiatives that would have legalized online sports betting statewide, according to unofficial results from the November 3, 2026 election. Initiative 440, a constitutional amendment authorizing online sports wagers, failed 239,331 to 285,520, and Initiative 441, the companion measure setting up the regulatory and tax framework, failed 241,599 to 283,159 - both losing by roughly 54% to 46% with some ballots still being counted toward official certification.

Both initiatives needed to pass together for mobile betting to become legal. The amendment would have required betting apps like DraftKings and FanDuel to partner with one of Nebraska's licensed racetrack casinos and run a gaming server physically inside the state, and it would have sent 70% of tax proceeds to property tax relief - the same split racetrack casino gaming revenue already gets taxed under. The petition drive, backed by a group called Tax Relief Nebraska, had submitted more than 201,000 signatures for the constitutional measure and about 146,000 for the regulatory one back in late June to qualify for the ballot.

The campaign drew its own controversy before voters ever weighed in: FanDuel and Roar Digital, an MGM subsidiary, together donated more than $3.5 million to Tax Relief Nebraska, and the Legal Accountability Center asked state regulators to investigate those contributions given the donors' ties to Ireland- and UK-based parent companies. Opponents, organized as Save Nebraska Sports and including the state's auditor and treasurer, argued voters weren't convinced the property-tax benefit was real; a spokesperson for the opposition said they were outspent roughly 20-to-1 and still won.

With both measures defeated, online sports betting stays illegal in Nebraska and wagering remains limited to in-person bets at the state's five racetrack casinos - any future legalization push would have to go through the Legislature or a new petition drive from scratch. We don't have an affiliate relationship with any sportsbook named in this story; we're tracking it because every state that votes down regulated online betting is also, by default, a state where the unregulated and sweepstakes-adjacent alternatives we cover keep their current opening.