The Ohio Statehouse News Bureau reported that sports betting has been legal in Ohio for just over a month and the state’s proposed $87 billion, two-year budget has placed the industry in the spotlight. In the spending plan, the tax on sports betting is set to double from 10% to 20%, which will be paid by casinos, sports teams operating sportsbooks, and mobile companies such as DraftKings and Barstool Sportsbook. This tax increase is slightly above the average of 19% imposed by other states.

Additional Revenue Will Go to Schools, Problem Gambling, and Sports Betting Regulation

The revenue generated from the proposed increase in taxes on sports betting in Ohio will go towards funding athletics and extracurricular activities in schools, addressing problem gambling, and covering administrative costs associated with regulating sports betting. This also involves monitoring advertisements by sports gambling apps to ensure compliance with state law.

Companies such as DraftKings, Penn Sports Interactive, and Bet MGM have already faced penalties of hundreds of thousands of dollars for violating state law through advertisements that promote risk-free betting or free bonuses or target individuals who are too young to participate in gambling. 

For example, at the beginning of January, the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) took action against sports betting operators BetMGM Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, and DraftKings Sportsbook, for violating advertising rules. The issue was the absence of any message regarding problem gambling in their advertising, as well as promoting their products as being free and without risk.

According to Matt Schuler, the Executive Director of the OCCC, the administrative action was a response to the blatant disregard shown by the sports betting operators for the state’s sports betting laws, despite multiple reminders and notifications regarding the advertising and promotion regulations.

Gov. Mike DeWine Has Taken a Hard Stance on Sports Betting Advertising Rules

Gov. Mike DeWine took strong stance on the sports betting industry in Ohio, keeping a watchful eye on the advertisements and messages put forth by the operators. He signed the bill to legalize sports gambling in the state in December 2021 and since the market’s official launch on January 1, 2023, he has been monitoring the actions of the operators closely.

DeWine has expressed his concerns over the “massive advertising” done by the sports betting companies and made it clear that any misleading or inappropriate statements made by the operators will not be tolerated in Ohio.

When he made his statement back at the beginning of January, the governor did not go into detail about specific instances of operators crossing the line, but did mention the OCCC’s case against one operator who illegally advertised to minors.