Gambling Opponents ‘Fully Prepared’ to Face Off Against Well-Heeled Sports Gambling Initiatives

by Ken Shepherd

A group promoting twin ballot initiatives to legalize smartphone-based sports gambling in Nebraska is running “ahead of our expected pace” and anticipates collecting “significantly more signatures than what’s required,” before the state’s July 2 deadline, an organizer for the campaign tells The Plains Sentinel.

The group, Tax Relief Nebraska, boasts a total so far this year of $5.65 million in donations from the parent companies of out-of-state online sportsbook brands such as BetMGM, Draft Kings, and Fanatics. According to state financial filings, it has spent millions in the past few months on Omaha-based consultants and political strategists with a history of involvement in Nebraska GOP politics.

The Plains Sentinel reached out for comment to two such firms, Neilan Strategy Group and Flyover Strategies. Both directed their questions to an official with Tax Relief Nebraska to respond on their behalf.

“If they had to find volunteers to collect signatures, they’d never get it on the ballot, and they know it,” Pat Loontjer of Gambling With the Good Life told The Plains Sentinel. “Unfortunately, they’ve got millions to spend and they’re going to buy Nebraska.”

But while opponents like Loontjer concede the petition effort is likely to succeed, they vow to take the fight to the voters in the fall, even if they are outmatched financially.

“We are examining our options and will act later,” Loontjer said.

Another prominent critic of legal gaming, Nate Grasz of the Nebraska Family Alliance (NFA), likewise pledged to put up a fight at the ballot box.

“It’s unsurprising that the gambling industry has the money to buy its way onto the ballot. NFA is fully prepared to lead a ‘vote no’ campaign and will be urging voters across the state to reject the fraudulent online sports betting initiative, which is being funded entirely by predatory out-of-state gambling companies under the guise of property tax relief,” Grasz said in a statement to The Plains Sentinel.

“While we may not have as much money, the one thing we have that they can’t avoid is the truth. And the truth is that online sports betting has been a massive public policy failure that benefits the companies that run the games while imposing life-altering social and economic costs on families, children, and student athletes,” Grasz added.

Addressing criticisms of his group’s efforts, Jordan McGrain of Tax Relief Nebraska told The Plains Sentinel that “[t]he real crisis facing Nebraska is the growing property tax burden that is forcing families out of their homes, farms and ranches, and driving people to leave the state altogether.”

“Conservative estimates show that allowing mobile sports wagering would generate over $60 million in direct property tax relief to help alleviate the burden for all Nebraskans,” McGrain added, referring to a March 2026 analysis by a research firm specializing in analysis of trends in the gaming industry.

“[A] huge component of this is the money that will be generated for the property tax credit cash fund, and property taxes continue to be a significant issue around the state. It’s something that every voter talks about,” McGrain told The Plains Sentinel earlier this spring in a comment for a previous story on the campaign effort.

With regard to Loontjer’s complaint about paid petition takers, McGrain said it was fairly standard for ballot petition efforts to hire paid petition collectors as “ballot access in Nebraska requires significant time and resources, and it is extraordinarily difficult for volunteer-only petition initiatives to succeed.”

“Our initiative requires both a constitutional amendment and a statutory amendment, needing more than 200,000 valid signatures collectively to access the ballot,” he added.

“When our work is done, we will have collected hundreds of thousands of signatures from Nebraskans who support this issue. Nebraskans will put this on the ballot. Nebraskans will vote to approve, and Nebraskans will create and regulate the marketplace. That’s as grassroots as it gets,” McGrain said, addressing concerns that his group’s effort lacks genuine support from everyday Nebraskans.

But even if smartphone gambling proves a tempting sales pitch to voters hungry for tax relief, Grasz warns expanded gambling in Nebraska to smartphone apps would be incalculably costly to Nebraska families who find the house always wins.

“The massive increases in addiction, bankruptcy, underage gambling, and domestic violence that accompany online sports betting aren’t unforeseen side effects,” Grasz said. “They are the necessary components of an industry that relies on deception and exploitation. The privileged few who stand to profit from this initiative can choose to ignore the costs that online sports betting imposes on children, teens, and student-athletes, but parents and families cannot.”

— Ken Shepherd is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel. He is a former editor at Fox News Digital and the Washington Times.