When Ohio governor Mike Dewine signed the state legislature’s sports betting bill into law, it made the Buckeye state the 33rd state to legalize sports gambling in some form.
That decision by DeWine on Oct. 12, 2022 set the path for legal sports gambling by those located in Ohio to begin doing so following its’ official legalization on Jan. 1, 2023.
Back in 2021, the bill passed the Senate by a 31-1 margin and the House by a 72-12 margin.
The law states that Ohio will tax users and casinos 10% of their total revenue. 98% of the total tax profits will go toward funding public and private K-12 education.
Earlier this year following the Jan. 1 legalization, DeWine warned gambling companies that their advertisements were being examined by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.
“The companies that are doing the massive advertising need to be aware that they’re being looked at very closely by the governor and the Casino Control Commission in regard to statements that they are making,” DeWine said. “We believe that at least on several occasions they’ve already crossed the line. My message to them is that this will not be tolerated in the State of Ohio.”
In the first month (Jan. 1-31) of legalized sports gambling, bettors spent $1.1 billion on wagers. $1.09 billion of that was placed via online sportsbooks such as FanDuel Sportsbook, Draftkings Sportsbook, BetFred Sportsbook and more.
Sportsbooks took home $208.9 million in revenue during its’ first month of legalization, meaning Ohio raked in $20.89 million in taxes as per the 10% in the law.
DeWine and the legislature have considered the idea of upping the tax on sports gambling to as much as 20%. In comparison, New York state has the largest tax on sports gambling revenue at 51%.
Reach Jacob Smith at (740) 370-0713 ext. 1930, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter @JacobSmithPDT © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved
