New Year, good news for 2023, as of January 1st Ohio’s legal sports betting season will be on.
Sports betting has been finally legalized in Ohio for both retail and internet betting, after Gov. Mike DeWine signed it into law in December 2021. Ohio will soon be one of the biggest betting marketplaces in the nation, with up to 25 sports betting licenses up for grabs that may allow a maximum of 50 online sports betting companies. There will be a ton of opportunities for new sports bettors thanks to the numerous Ohio sportsbook applications that are slated to emerge.
Ohio Casino Control Commission Executive Director Matt Schuler made good on a promise made last month by saying that Jan. 1, 2023, will be the Buckeye State’s official start date for gambling. According to the statute, January 1st is also the earliest feasible start date for both retail and online sports betting in Ohio.
Getting prepared
Ohio is going to follow up on Iowa, which legalized sports betting in 2019. You can check information about how sports betting works in the Hawkeye state here: clutchbuzz.clutchbet.com/iowa-sports/iowa-sports-betting-guide/
According to Ohio law, up to 25 first licenses for online sports betting may be granted, with preference going to the owners of the state’s casinos and racinos as well as professional sports leagues. Aside from having some of their company operations in the state, owners of the online licenses must also obtain one of the 40 brick-and-mortar sportsbook permits that are up for grabs.
However, the just-opened model for legal sports betting in Ohio will miss out on almost all of the National Football League’s regular season. So, given that Ohio is the seventh-most populous state in the United States, it will also delay the entry of a much-awaited market for operators.
Nonetheless, Matt Schuler stands optimistic, since “January 1 will represent the largest expansion of gaming in Ohio’s history and the largest ever simultaneous launch of sports gaming in the United States”.
Residents desiring to wager must be age 21 or older and physically present in Ohio. Revenue from sports betting will be taxed at a 10% rate.
Even while prospective licensees could need to complete differing amounts of work before they’re ready to accept bets, the Ohio Casino Control Commission highlighted that the state’s sports betting law stipulates that all types of gambling must have the opportunity to operate on the same day.
According to estimates from the industry, this will need thorough compliance audits and due diligence investigations of some 3,000 licensees before that date.
Expected licensed betting apps
In order to gain access to the Ohio sports betting market, many sportsbooks have already begun forming relationships. For instance, Bally Bet Ohio and Caesars Sportsbook Ohio have formal partnerships with the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively. Due to their ownership of nearby Ohio casinos, other sports betting websites including BetMGM and Barstool Sportsbook (PENN National Gaming) have automatic market access in the Buckeye State.
As stated in Action Network, the current list of the apps expected to launch on the first day of legal sports betting are:
Bally Bet
bet365
BetMGM
betPARX
Caesars
DraftKings
FanDuel
Hard Rock
SuperBook
betJACK
Tipico
Other sports betting websites like Bally Bet have made it apparent that they intend to make some noise in this developing sector. Major operators like DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM are anticipated to be ready for launch day on January 1.
Likewise, the ‘Betr’ sports betting platform will formally debut in Ohio. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Village’s online sports betting supplier, Betr, received conditional certification from the Ohio Casino Control Commission. This is Betr’s first license for online sports betting, and the company might make its debut when Ohio betting opens on January 1, 2023.
