Outspent Opposition Sinks Nebraska Mobile Betting Ballot Measures

Nebraska voters have rejected two ballot measures that would have authorised online sports betting through the state's racetrack casinos, despite a campaign bankrolled almost entirely by DraftKings and FanDuel.

With 91% of votes counted, Initiative 441, the statutory measure to regulate mobile wagering, had gone down by a margin of 54.5% to 45.5%, figures from the Associated Press reported via the New York Times and cited by Legal Sports Report showed. Initiative 440, the companion constitutional amendment, failed by a nearly identical margin. Both needed majority approval, and online betting required both to pass.

The committee behind the measures, Tax Relief Nebraska, raised close to $22.5 million through 29 October, with DraftKings and FanDuel each contributing $10.4 million, the Nebraska Examiner reported.

The result landed despite that financial advantage. State Treasurer Joey Spellerberg, a leading figure in the opposing campaign Save Nebraska Sports, described the contest as a "David and Goliath" matchup and said his side was outspent 20 to 1, according to the Nebraska Examiner.

Opposition to the measures drew on some of the state's most prominent sporting names. Former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne led a letter signed by 45 current and former Huskers athletes and coaches, which warned of game manipulation, intrusive gambling advertising and the harassment of athletes over lost bets.

The campaign also became entangled in a state legislative race. On 27 October, Tax Relief Nebraska gave $750,000 to Tim Anderson, a Republican candidate in Legislative District 38, which funded advertising under Anderson's name in support of online wagering. Spellerberg, State Auditor Mike Foley and US Senator Pete Ricketts subsequently withdrew their endorsements of Anderson over the donation.

Anderson maintained he supported property tax relief, but Ricketts challenged the scale of benefit the measures would have delivered. "What you're being sold with this online sports gambling bill… It's not really real," Ricketts told NTV, arguing the relief would amount to roughly a dollar a month for an owner of a $250,000 home against an estimated $800 million in gambling losses needed to fund it.

The measures found favour mainly around Omaha, with Douglas and Sarpy counties each backing Initiative 441 by 52% to 48%. Opposition was stronger elsewhere, with Lancaster County, home to Lincoln, voting against it 58% to 42%, and central Nebraska rejecting it even more heavily: Buffalo County voted 64% against and Hall County 60% against.

Lynne McNally, director of government relations for WarHorse Casino, which operates racinos in Lincoln and Omaha, called the outcome a missed opportunity for the state. "I'm disappointed for the state of Nebraska," she told Nebraska Public Media on Tuesday night, adding that unregulated online betting activity would continue regardless and that the state would forgo tax revenue as a result.

Dan Taylor, chief executive of FanDuel parent Flutter, addressed the defeat on the company's Q3 2026 earnings call the following day. "Obviously we were disappointed with the result in Nebraska where the ballot didn't go in our favor, but I think we'll take something from that," he said, adding that Flutter still sees a "strong pipeline of further state openings."