Group pushing online sports betting turns in more signatures than needed to get on Nebraska ballot

A group attempting to legalize online sports betting in Nebraska has turned in nearly 350,000 signatures for its two initiative petitions.

According to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office, the group, called Tax Relief Nebraska, turned in more than 201,000 signatures for its petition seeking a constitutional amendment to legalize online sports betting in the state and 146,000 signatures for its petition to create the regulatory framework to tax the wagers and direct 70% of the tax proceeds to property tax relief, the same percentage that comes from casino taxes. The signatures were turned in Friday, nearly a week before the deadline.

The numbers are well above what the group needed – approximately 126,000 for the constitutional amendment and 88,000 for the other petition – making it likely the issue will be included on the ballot in the November election.

Lynne McNally, head of government relations for WarHorse Casinos, said that based on polling and what petition circulators heard from the people they encountered, she’s not surprised that so many people signed the petitions.

McNally said the biggest obstacle was the sheer number of other petitions in circulation vying for people’s attention and support.

“Once we cut through that confusion, we had a pretty easy time,” she said.

McNally said the group will now be “waiting patiently” for counties to verify the signatures and for the secretary of state to certify them for the ballot, a process that is likely to take several weeks.

Currently, sports betting is legal in Nebraska, but it has to be done in person at one of the state’s five racetrack casinos. Last year, the casinos had about $9.3 million in sports betting revenue, according to the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, resulting in less than $2 million in tax revenue.

If the initiatives make the ballot and voters approve them, online sports betting companies would be allowed to partner with the state’s casinos to offer online betting. WarHorse is planning to partner with major online sports betting companies DraftKings and FanDuel.

Supporters of online sports betting have estimated such a move will bring in more than $30 million in gaming taxes annually just from sports betting.

Opponents say online betting is much more addictive and that legalizing it in Nebraska will lead to more problem gambling. They argue that the increase in tax revenue is not worth the increase in problems it will bring.

McNally said she doesn’t want to be “presumptuous” about how people will vote, but she’s feeling good about the initiatives’ chances at the ballot box.

“Based on the feedback we've received so far, we're optimistic that if we're on the ballot in November, then we should be seeing legalized mobile sports betting after that,” she said.