Two Nebraska officials join campaign against online-sports-betting ballot initiative

LINCOLN —  A group announced a campaign to oppose two statewide ballot measures that seek to legalize and regulate online sports betting in Nebraska.

Save Nebraska Sports, which includes State Auditor Mike Foley and Treasurer Joey Spellerberg, held a press conference Thursday at the Nebraska Capitol to begin efforts to inform Nebraskans that the group behind it isn’t looking out for their best interests. 

Ron Brown, a former Husker football coach, said gambling and online betting remind him of what “the cat dragged in” when he was younger. 

“It was often a bloody rat. The bloody rats, to me, in this issue, are the consequences of gambling and online sports betting. The sharp claws of these endeavors have sadly dragged in the filth and disease of greed,” Brown said. 

Foley, Spellerberg, Brown and Nebraska Family Alliance Executive Director Nate Grasz argued that the new initiatives would undermine the integrity of college sports in the state. 

The group behind the ballot initiatives is called Tax Relief Nebraska. One measure, if approved, would amend the section of the state constitution that voters amended in 2020 to legalize gambling and casinos at licensed racetracks to also allow online sports wagering at those locations. 

The state’s six licensed racetracks, sometimes called racinos, are in Grand Island, Ogallala, Lincoln, Omaha, Columbus and South Sioux City.

Tax Relief Nebraska’s officials have said the initiative would generate “new revenue for local communities and millions of dollars in property tax relief.”

But Foley said Nebraskans will be scammed by a “false promise of property tax relief” because the tax revenue generated in would be “pennies” compared to how much money will be going to FanDuel and DraftKings, which are based out of state. 

The other would amend three existing state laws to define and provide regulation of online sports betting for someone within Nebraska at the time of the wager. Computer servers used to host online sports wagering platforms would need to be located within Nebraska, and gaming operators could conduct wagering through no more than two platforms at one time. The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission would need to adopt rules and regulations by June 1, 2027, if voters approved the measures. 

Grasz read a statement from former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne about his opposition to the measure. Osborne wasn’t in attendance. 

This isn’t the first time that Huskers have been involved in political efforts — former Nebraska volleyball middle blocker Rebekah Allick and five Nebraska softball players appeared in a political ad for a successful 2024 ballot initiative that banned abortions after the first trimester in the state constitution, with exceptions for the life of the mother, rape and incest.  

The general election is Nov. 3.