Watchdog Alleges Gambling Interests Likely Funneled Overseas Money into ‘Tax Relief Nebraska’ Effort
by Ken Shepherd
(Photo credit FanDuel)
Donations from online gambling interests to Tax Relief Nebraska may have run afoul of state law forbidding money from overseas sources to influence ballot initiatives, a watchdog group claimed in a request for an investigation.
As Nebraska Public Media reported last week, the Legal Accountability Center (LAC) has submitted a complaint to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission (NADC) urging the state agency to probe whether the parent companies for FanDuel and BetMGM broke state law by essentially funneling overseas money to Tax Relief Nebraska, the campaign effort behind twin ballot initiatives that would pave the way for online sports wagering in Nebraska.
“The dollars cannot be coming from, either directly or subsidized by, the foreign entity,” LAC executive Michael Teter said. “And then, they cannot be controlling the strategy and the decision, whether or not to make the contribution.”
Teter claimed in his August 3 letter to the NADC that because the domestic parent companies for both FanDuel and BetMGM are themselves owned by overseas parent companies, it’s likely there is coordination from the overseas parents that runs afoul of state law, coordination that the companies in question, as well as Tax Relief Nebraska, should disprove by furnishing appropriate documentation to the NADC.
Reached by The Plains Sentinel, Teter said he had no additional comment beyond what he told Nebraska Public Media other than to reiterate that Legal Accountability Center is “neutral on the ballot question itself.”
For its part, Tax Relief Nebraska strongly denies any wrongdoing on its part and denounces the filing as a “frivolous” effort.
“This is a frivolous complaint and publicity stunt with no basis in fact,” Tax Relief Nebraska treasurer Mark Fahleson said in a statement to The Plains Sentinel. “We stand by the integrity of our effort and will keep our focus on placing the issue of online sports wagering before the voters and getting Nebraskans the tax relief they deserve.”
The Plains Sentinel reached out to BetMGM for comment, but none was returned by publication deadline.
A FanDuel spokesperson said in an emailed statement to The Plains Sentinel that the company “is fully committed to complying with all campaign finance laws. We have policies and procedures in place to ensure that all political contributions are made in accordance with applicable laws.”
The Plains Sentinel reached out to the NADC for comment for this story but did not receive a response by publication deadline.
One independent legal observer told The Plains Sentinel he expected NADC to treat the request for an investigation fairly.
“The NADC has been, in my experience, even-handed and diligent so I expect it to treat the complaint seriously,” Creighton University law professor Patrick Borchers told The Plains Sentinel.
He added, however, that there’s “an uphill climb to show any impropriety” on the part of the gambling companies under scrutiny, describing them as “very sophisticated entities with a lot of experience in political campaigns.”
“I’d be very surprised if they left themselves open to a claim of directly making campaign contributions from a foreign donor,” Borchers said. “Because of their large presence in the U.S., I think it’s very likely that the contributions come from a U.S.-based entity of some sort.”
Reached for comment, one outspoken critic of Tax Relief Nebraska said LAC’s allegations should be “investigated fully” ahead of the November election, with Nebraskans at risk from “the harms of predatory gambling.”
“Tax Relief Nebraska” has spent millions in out of state money misleading voters about their initiatives, which would siphon hundreds of millions from Nebraskans to out-of-state gambling corporations and cause families to lose far more money to online gambling than they would ever receive in tax relief,” Nebraska Family Alliance executive director Nate Grasz told The Plains Sentinel in an emailed statement.
“Massive gambling companies shouldn’t get a free pass when it comes to following our election laws, and voters deserve transparency about where the millions pushing this effort are actually coming from,” he added. “These are serious questions that should be investigated fully to protect the integrity of our elections and Nebraska children and student athletes from the harms of predatory gambling.”
— Ken Shepherd is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel. He is a former editor at Fox News Digital and the Washington Times.