Ohio sports bettors have had their calendars marked for months and the day is finally approaching, as operators like Caesars Sportsbook Ohio will be launching in The Buckeye State.
In a little more than two weeks, on New Year’s Day, Ohio sports betting will become legal.
Here’s what you need to know before Ohio becomes the 27th state to offer legal statewide sports wagering.
Plenty of Betting Options
The Ohio Casino Control Commission is putting the finishing touches on sports betting in Ohio and has spent the last several months awarding several different types of licenses to operate in the state.
Ohio sports bettors will have no shortage of options when it comes to making their legal wagers. On the online side (Type-A license), several Ohio sports betting apps have received conditional approval. Those include:
- Barstool Sportsbook
- Bet365
- Betfred
- BetMGM
- BetPARX
- BetRivers
- Caesars
- DraftKings
- Fanatics
- FanDuel Ohio
- Hard Rock
- Instabet/Betr
- PointsBet Ohio
- Superbook
- Tipico
On the retail side (Type-B license), BetOhio.com reported in September that locations were approved for in-person sportsbook at:
- Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway (Barstool and BetRivers)
- Scioto Downs (Caesars Ohio)
- Hollywood Casino Columbus (Barstool)
- Belterra Park Cincinnati (FanDuel)
- MGM Northfield Park (BetMGM).
Barstool Sportsbooks also will be coming to Youngstown (Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course) and Toledo (Hollywood Casino Toledo).
In November, the Ohio Casino Control Commission continued to award licenses, granting approval for Miami Valley Gaming and Racing, Hall of Fame Village Newco LLC and Hard Rock Cincinnati.
Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati is opening Hard Rock Sportsbook on Jan. 1 with Major League Baseball Hit King and Cincinnati native Pete Rose set to place the first legal wager.
Four additional online sportsbooks and two retail locations were granted approval in mid-November in Fanatics, Betr, BetParx and Gamewide.
Ohio Will Be a Major State for Sportsbooks
Ohio will be one of the biggest sports-betting rollouts in the country as one of just 13 states to have teams in each of the four major sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA), along with a pair of Major League Soccer franchises and several Division I college programs.
As expected, those professional franchises announced partnerships early on with sports gaming providers.
The Cincinnati Bengals partnered with Betfred in the summer with plans of a mobile app. The Cincinnati Reds announced a deal in October with BetMGM with plans for a retail sportsbook at Great American Ball Park. FC Cincinnati also has plans for an in-person sportsbook at TQL Stadium, along with a mobile app.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are unlikely to offer online sports betting Jan. 1 after its official partner, Fubo, announced in October that it was shutting down its sportsbooks nationally. The Cavaliers, however, will offer an in-person sportsbook through its partnership with Caesars. Caesars has an online sports betting partnership with Scioto Downs in Columbus.
The Cleveland Browns have a partnership with Bally’s Interactive, which will offer a sport gaming app.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have partnered with Bet Fanatics for online and retail sports betting platforms. The Columbus Crew have partnered with Tipico Sportsbook Ohio
Several Type-C licenses already have been approved for sports betting kiosks to be offered at businesses with either a D-1, D-2 or D-5 liquor license, like grocery stores, restaurants or bars, along with retailers that sell Ohio Lottery tickets. As of November, nearly 900 Type-C licenses for sports-betting kiosks were approved by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.
It’s a lot to take in, we know. That’s why BetOhio.com is the best source for sports betting news in the Buckeye State, as well as for Ohio betting promotions.
