Ohio Sports Betting To Start Near New Year’s Day Next Year

Sports betting in Ohio is not likely to be legal until sometime around Jan. 1, 2023, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission. The official start date will be unveiled June 1, the commission website states. Once live, betting apps in Ohio will become available to local bettors.

Sports betting supporters were hoping people would be able to place legal wagers in time for the kickoff of this year’s NFL season and Major League Baseball’s World Series and enjoy some of the best Ohio sportsbook promos. That will not be the case, the commission said.

“Given the intricacies of the rule making process in Ohio and the number of licenses and investigations that the commission must issue or undertake, the Universal Start Date is likely to be close to, if not exactly on, January 1, 2023,” the website states.

Lawmakers Predicted Earlier Start 

Once the start date is set, it will be shared with all stakeholders on the sports gaming listerv and posted on the commission’s website. Under the law signed in late 2021 by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, pictured, January was the deadline for sports betting to go live. The recent update contrasts with what Sen. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, and Sen. Kirk Schuring, R-Canton, recently told local reporters. Antani projected a launch in time for the MLB World Series, while Schuring thought sports betting would be up and running by mid-to-late fall.

Sports Betting Legal In 35 States

Ohio’s expanded gaming initiative is one of the largest in the country. All eligible online bookmakers, brick-and-mortar sportsbooks and kiosks in bars and taverns are eligible to start on the same date. 

The Ohio Casino Control Commission estimates it will need to conduct detailed investigations for nearly 3,000 applications in order to meet the universal start date. Well known brands like Pointsbet and BetMGM Ohio intend to go live to expand their states of operation. 

Applicants can apply for licenses beginning June 15. Once the application window closes later in the summer, the commission will announce the winners of the licenses. When sports betting goes live, the state estimates it will be a $1.1 billion industry in the first year of operation, with the chance to grow to $3.35 billion within a few years.

Ohio is one of five states where sports betting is legal but not yet live. The others are Maine, Nebraska, Kansas and Florida. The good news is that Kansas online sportsbooks will likely go live in a couple of months, making it another state to join the regulated sports betting crowd.

Sports betting is legal and live in 30 states and Washington, D.C.