Welp, this most certainly was not the expected outcome in terms of sports betting in Nebraska potentially getting legal online options on the board. For a while now, Nebraska officials have been working diligently in making this happen, with optimism reaching a new level with the November ballot arriving. However, the Nebraska voters shot down online sports betting bills in a new setback for the state. Where are things going to go from here?
That's tough to say, but there's surely a ton of disappointment right now. There were two separate initiatives on the November ballot for people to vote on back on Nov. 3: Initiative 440 and Initiative 441. There was hope that they'd get across the line, but that just wasn't the case. The final numbers that came in were disheartening, too. Initiative 440 failed 55.5 percent to 45.5 percent, while Initiative 441 failed 55 percent to 45 percent. While plenty of people were angry, Senator Pete Ricketts was pretty happy with the overall outcome
“We were being sold a bill of goods about the online sports betting,” Ricketts said with passion via Nebraska NBC affiliate WOWT. “We were not going to get property tax relief. That was a lie. Nebraska saw right through it and that’s why those ballot issues went down.”
Leading up to the vote, plenty of local citizens voiced their concerns about the respective initiatives. It also didn't sit well with people that Tax Relief Nebraska put in more than $20 million for this campaign, with casinos/online betting powers getting together to fund it. All in all, though, this just means that the Nebraska online sports betting push is now back to the drawing board, which is disappointing for several different reasons.
ICYMI: Nebraska voters REJECTED 2 measures legalizing online sports betting. Gambling industry reportedly spent >$20M supporting the measure, while Grassroots groups only spent about $1M in opposition.
Outspent 20:1 grassroots stood strong.
Texas, take note as #txlege reshuffles.— Destin R. Sensky (@DestinSensky) November 5, 2026
Nebraska sports fans will have to keep relying on in-person betting moving forward
The only potential saving grace here is that Nebraska sports fans will have to keep relying on in-person betting moving forward. While there won't be any online sports betting options for people in the state in 2027, the good news is that in-person wagers remain legal. People can continue to visit authorized kiosks at licensed racetracks. In the state, there are a total of five racetracks, with each of them providing in-person sports betting options.
This includes the popular Horsemen's Park in Omaha. Until legal sports betting options arrive, that location in particular will continue to be quite popular for people to visit. However, it still doesn't take away from the disappointment that plenty of people are feeling right now. The original plan was for online sports betting to launch in the spring had things got voted into place.
That would have opened the door for people to place plenty of online MLB betting wagers, as things always heat up leading up to the summer months. With the NFL Draft arriving in April as well, you would have figured that NFL betting would have been popular for people in the area. However, that's all been delayed due to the results of the November ballot. Again, Nebraska will have to start from scratch here once again, leaving everyone guessing on when the laws might finally change.
Nebraska's sports betting revenue would be much higher with online options
It goes without saying, but Nebraska's sports betting revenue would be much higher with online options. This is a given for any state, as we've seen some pretty electric numbers across the board. The 2026 numbers for the Cornhusker State are yet to be fully updated since we've still got to track November and December, but the total tax revenue for 2025 was $9.3 million, per the American Gaming Association.
A neighbor state is Missouri, which consistently posts strong numbers there. This included more than $20 million in tax revenue alone in July, which was more than double what Nebraska had in all of 2025. This speaks to the kind of impact online wagers can provide, but Nebraska won't be reeling in those benefits in the near future.
Might that change once 2028 or 2029 arrives? It's hard to say, as we've seen other states also fail to push forward after bills haven't passed. This includes California, which had two sports betting bills on the docket back in 2022. Both failed, and here we are four years later with nothing moving forward. Will the same fate arrive for Nebraska? We hope not.
