The Sports Betting Engines Have Started in Ohio

On December 8, of 2021, the Ohio state legislature passed the state's sports betting legislation in the form of HB 29. The bill was subsequently signed into law by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in the early part of 2022.

Over the last few months, the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) has been smoothing out some of the bill's rough edges while also starting the acceptance of sports betting licenses. It's worth noting that HB 29 authorizes the granting of up to 25 sports betting "Type A" licenses (mobile) and 40 "Type B" licenses (retail), which are expected to be gobbled up by the top sports betting operators in the U.S.

In the last few weeks, the OCCC officially announced that live retail and online/mobile sports betting will start in earnest on January 1, 2023. There were hopes betting would go live by the time the Ohio State Buckeyes play the Michigan Wolverines in late November, but the commission opted to take it slow and easy. Their ultimate goal was to get everything set in place by the NFL playoffs, with all licensed operators ready to go at the same time.

At this time, there is no reason to believe that Ohio residents will be placing their first mobile sports bets by the time the big ball drops in Times Square.

Available Betting Option in Ohio

With the license applications now in hand, the OCCC has started the vetting process. For certain, top online bookmakers like Caesars Sportsbook, BetMGM, BetyRivers, DraftKings, and Fanduel will be somewhere in the mix. Other likely participating operators would include WynnBET, PointsBet, and Unibet.

The betting options that will be available to Ohio sports bettors on January 1 will include:

• Up to 25 sports betting mobile app
  
• Several retail casinos
  
• Up to 7 statewide racinos (racetracks with casinos)
  
• Sports betting kioskds located in or near professional sports franchises
  
• Sports bars and restaurants
  

Yes, several of Cleveland's professional sports franchises will be seeking and will likely receive sports betting licenses. At this time, the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, NFL's Cleveland Browns, and MLS soccer's Columbus Crew are already building sports betting kiosks inside of their respective stadiums.

Caesars Gets a Headstart

While nothing is assured, Caesars will almost certainly be getting access to at least one, if not more, sports betting skins. Any doubts were likely removed when the operator announced the launch of a horse race betting app in both Ohio and Florida. With the app set to go live in the very near future, Ohio online gamblers are likely to sign up, knowing a sports betting module will be made available on January 1, 2023.

With this move, it has become increasingly clear that Caesars has every intention of being the U.S.'s online betting "king of the hill. Caesars also offers an online casino platform that features hundreds of online casino games from the top software developers in the world.