New Sports Betting Ads Refuse to Mention Gambling, Intentionally Mislead Nebraska Voters

0.3% in “real tax relief.” $830 million in local losses. Zero mention of sports betting.

Out-of-state gambling corporations are betting millions that Nebraska voters can be tricked into legalizing 24/7 online sports betting without ever knowing they voted for it. 

In an unprecedented display of voter deception, “Tax Relief Nebraska,” the campaign funded by out-of-state gambling companies to legalize online sports betting, launched a massive media blitz with new 30-second and 15-second ads promising “over $150 million in real tax relief.” 

But an analysis of the campaign’s new ads by Nebraska Family Alliance reveals a troubling reality: the ads do not contain a single mention of sports betting and intentionally omit that the $166 million tax relief figure is a 10-year projection. 

Campaign filing reports show “Tax Relief Nebraska” has received over $21 million this year, with FanDuel (New York, NY) and DraftKings (Boston, MA) each giving nearly $10 million.

Nebraska Family Alliance Executive Director Nate Grasz gave the following statement:

“This isn’t political messaging; it’s predatory voter deception. If legalizing online sports betting would be such a great thing for Nebraska, why are the people trying to put it in our constitution so afraid to mention it in their own commercials?”

Grasz added, “Voters deserve the truth, but when a business is dishonest, the people who benefit from it need to promote it dishonestly. That’s why the campaign to legalize online sports betting is trying to conceal their own product and using false promises of tax relief. They are trying to hide that their initiatives would drain $830 million of Nebraskans’ personal wealth to the out-of-state gambling companies funding the campaign.”

Key Findings from the Ad Breakdown 

The campaign’s current ad buy relies on three glaring deceptions designed to trick Nebraska voters at the ballot box: 

Hidden Mechanism 

The ads do not contain a single mention of sports betting or gambling. They urge voters to vote for “real tax relief” without disclosing the core legal change the initiatives actually put before voters: authorizing online sports betting from anywhere in the state.

Intentionally Misleading Tax Relief Promises 

The ads tell voters to vote for “$166 million in tax relief” without informing voters, even in fine print, that this figure is an aggregate 10-year projection, giving voters the impression that they are voting for an immediate windfall of $166 million in tax relief rather than roughly $16.6 million per year.  

Against Nebraska’s annual property tax burden of over $5 billion, this “real tax relief” would offset property taxes by 0.3%, assuming no other tax or property valuation increases. That is not “real tax relief”; it is a statistical rounding error that property owners will never see. 

Hiding the Cost to Nebraska

Nebraska taxes gaming revenue at 20%. While the ads frame “$166 million in tax relief” as found money, Nebraskans would have to lose $830 million of cumulative personal wealth to out-of-state online gambling companies for the state to collect this revenue.

Initiative Measures 440 and 441 are opposed by a growing coalition of opposition, including Nebraska Family Alliance, State Auditor Mike Foley, State Treasurer Joey Spellerberg, Coach Tom Osborne, and over 40 other Nebraska coaches and athletes.