WarHorse Gaming Launches Ballot Campaign for Nebraska Mobile Sports Betting

• WarHorse and Sports Betting Alliance launch Nebraska mobile betting petitions
• Two measures seek to authorize online wagering and allocate local tax revenue
• Push follows 2025 filibuster that stalled a constitutional amendment

Having failed to see online sports betting pass in the Nebraska legislature last year, the state’s biggest casino operator is hoping a pair of ballot initiatives will do the job.

The campaign is spearheaded by WarHorse Gaming, the commercial arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska (Ho-Chunk), along with the Sports Betting Alliance, which includes national betting operators like DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM.

The second stipulates that 20% of revenue from online betting would go to cities and counties where those bets were placed. The two separate measures fulfill Nebraska rules on only one issue per ballot initiative.

Bottom Line

Nebraska legalized sports betting in May 2021, but the first retail sportsbooks didn’t arrive until June 2023. It remains limited to in-person wagering at one of the five racetrack casinos.

The bottom line is you’re allowing tax money to go to Iowa, Kansas, and Colorado. People are using VPNs, and they’re disguising their location, pretending they’re in Iowa,” Lynne McNally, director of government relations at WarHorse, told Nebraska Public Media recently.

Last year’s legislative effort, which as a constitutional amendment required the backing of two-thirds of state lawmakers, was filibustered to death by its opponents. And while its backers say they intend to reintroduce the bill during this session, WarHorse and its allies would prefer to bypass the legislature entirely and let residents decide.

According to a Sports Betting Alliance poll conducted last year, 59% of Nebraskans support legalized online sports betting.

Prior Success

The state’s casino industry is well equipped to handle ballot campaigns, owing its very existence to one. In November 2020, Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved three measures that allowed racetracks to offer casino gaming. That initiative was also led by WarHorse, which was then known as Ho-Chunk Inc.

Petition organizers will need to gather signatures from about 10% of registered voters in the state to get the sports betting measure on the ballot, and about 7% for the tax measure.