In January 2023, Ohio sports betting markets will be blown wide open by a change in legislation. At present, ahead of that all-important day arriving, the Ohio Casino Control Commission is busy approving applications for betting licenses in the state. Recently, several top-tier betting organisations were given the green light to operate in Ohio, offering mobile sports betting markets to an already eager audience in Ohio.
It’s expected that more organisations will receive licensure ahead of the 2023 launch, and at the moment, everything is on track for a monumental launch. As per the refreshed laws in Ohio, the state can accommodate up to twenty-five online sports betting operators, and forty ‘in-person’ sportsbooks in ‘brick-and-mortar’ premises. These operators will need to wait until ‘at least’ January 1st to begin trading, but when they do open their doors, analysts are expecting a boom.
Ohio Sports Betting Markets Are About to Open
There are twelve iconic gambling brands that have so far managed to secure betting licensure in the state of Ohio:
- Barstool, FanDuel, PointsBet, Caesars, Betfred, bet365, Superbook, BetMGM, DraftKings, Hard Rock, Tipico, BetRivers
These licenses will be put in place for the next five years, at the end of which, operators will need to re-apply for consideration. It wasn’t all good news, though – following the swathe of approvals, one operator, StatHero, had its fantasy sports license stripped and was blocked from re-applying for three years. This decision came following the revelation that StatHero had been offering fantasy contests that were ‘against the house and not other players’.
With an interesting step forward to sports betting involvement, the NFL Hall of Fame also secured a ‘conditional approval’ for a sports betting license. This would give the ‘HOFV’ access to the creation of a physical sportsbook and an online betting platform. These aspects were covered by Michael Crawford, the President and CEO of HOFV, in a statement:
‘The legalization of sports betting in Ohio, opens up a breadth of opportunity across our company’s three business verticals and for our fans. We will have the only physical sportsbook in Stark County and the first dedicated sports microbetting platform via the Betr mobile app, bringing fans and guests a multitude of different and new ways to experience sports entertainment.’
As a relatively high-profile platform-building endeavour, Betr is backed by Jake Paul, the notorious YouTuber and content creator.
When Ohio joins the U.S. sports betting boom in January, it’s expected to quickly become one of the fastest-growing markets. There’s a hype train already gathering steam, with the legendary baseball player, Pete ‘Charlie Hustle’ Rose reportedly stepping up to a historic plate to place the first bet at the Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati when markets open.
As more states open their doors to sports betting practices, the market value continues to skyrocket. It was recently revealed that, by the end of 2022, the US betting handle is expected to soar past $100 billion in total value.
