Proposal considered ‘short-sighted’ by lawmaker who helped legalize sports betting
Three Ohio Republican lawmakers said Wednesday they will propose legislation to eliminate online sports betting across the state, a move that could cost the state more than $200 million in tax revenue for education and problem gambling services.
However, state Reps. Riordan McClain (R-Upper Sandusky), Gary Click (R-Vickery) and Johnathan Newman (R-Troy) said that the societal costs and questions about sports integrity created by online wagering, which started in Ohio more than three years ago, are more pressing state issues.
As a fan, I want to watch highly talented individuals and teams compete at the highest levels,” said McClain about the yet-to-be-filed legislation called the Save Ohio Sports Act. “I want to know that the outcome is determined on the field of play, not by the gambling markets.”
During a 50-minute press conference at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus Wednesday, the three legislators and other supporters of the measure kept hammering on the addictive nature of online gambling and the constant stream of television and radio commercials and references to betting frequently mentioned during broadcasts.
The Save Ohio Sports Act would actually be two pieces of legislation. Its proponents are not calling for an outright ban, as Ohioans could still place sports bets – with strict limits – at casinos across the state.
“We do understand that people want some form of legalized sports gambling,” Click explained. “We’re not removing that, but we also know that people want consumer protections. They want to be protected from predatory advertisements, predatory gambling in Ohio, because the house always wins.”
A fourth sponsor of the legislative package, state Rep. Kevin Ritter (R-Marietta), did not attend the announcement.
Faith-Based Lobbying Group Behind Measure
The Center for Christian Virtue, a faith-based public policy organization headquartered in Columbus, helped publicize Wednesday’s event and craft the legislation.
This is why America is the single greatest nation in the world, because the wealthy, the well-funded corporations, they are not the ones in charge,” CCV President Aaron Baer said. “The people are in charge, and they put in place some incredible leaders in the Ohio General Assembly, who care about the future of our state, who care about exploitation, who care about children, and just being able to enjoy a football game and not wondering, ‘Is this rigged too?’”
Baer, who compared the addictive nature of sports betting to narcotics and likened sports betting operators offering bonuses to drug dealers offering a free sample, said one of the bills would cover sports integrity issues. The other would address consumer protection.
Bill Allows Just Four Retail Sportsbooks in Ohio
As currently proposed, the legislation would restrict sports betting only to the state’s four full-fledged casinos. The state’s current sports betting law allows sports betting at the four casinos, seven video-lottery terminal racinos and elsewhere in the state if an operators partners with a professional sports team or another local business.
The four casinos are in Cincinnati (Hard Rock), Cleveland (JACK! Entertainment), Columbus, and Toledo (both operated by PENN Entertainment).
As a result, FanDuel would lose its retail sportsbook at Belterra Park in Cincinnati, and BetMGM would need to relinquish its sportsbook across the street from Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Caesars brick-and-mortar location would close at Scioto Downs in Columbus, and Fanatics also would stop taking bets at its location near Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus.
Further, the proposal would limit any wager made at a casino sportsbook to $100, and bettors could make only eight bets during any 24-hour period.
Other provisions include a ban on using credit cards for placing wagers (several online operators already block customers from using credit cards to make deposits); a prohibition on free bets; blocking sportsbook advertisements during pro sports games and within stadiums and arenas; and forbidding any parlay wagers, in-game markets, and any collegiate event.
While the legislation would block online sports betting apps , the sponsors said it would not affect federally regulated prediction markets, like Kalshi and Polymarket which offer parlays and wagering on collegiate events. It also apparently would not impact daily fantasy sports operators, whose games closely resemble the parlay-style bets lawmakers and supporters attacked on Wednesday.
“We’re Ohio legislators,” McClain said. “We only have access to control what we do here in Ohio and advocate for what we want.”
Manning Critical of Bill
The proposed legislation drew a critical response from another Republican lawmaker in the statehouse, state Sen. Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville).
Manning chairs the Senate Select Committee on Gaming and helped shepherd the sports betting bill through the legislative process five years ago.
I believe this is short-sighted legislation that takes away personal liberty,” Manning said in a text to Gambling Insider. “People, not politicians, should be able to make their own decisions as long as it’s not harming others. This legislation would reduce funding to our public schools and problem gaming resources that are much needed.”
Another key legislator who helped pass the sports betting was was then-Senate President Matt Huffman. Huffman no longer serves in the Senate, but the Lima Republican now presides as the speaker of the house.
How Ohio Allocates Sports Betting Tax Revenue
Ohio dedicates 98% of sports betting tax revenue to K-12 education, with the remaining 2% supporting problem gambling programs.
During the 2025 calendar year, the 20% tax on operator revenue generated more than $209 million, based on calculations using data published by the Ohio Casino Control Commission. Online sportsbooks accounted for about $205.1 million of that total.
According to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, state funding for primary and secondary education surpassed $13.5 billion for fiscal year 2025 (July 2024-June 2025).
The portion generated by sports betting taxes, $204.9 million, equals about 1.5% of the total spending. Still, it would be difficult for the state to lose that amount of money, as education costs have risen incrementally nearly every year since 2009.
In fiscal year (FY) 2025, the state of Ohio spent more on primary and secondary education than at any other time in state history,” the department said in its Overview of School Funding web page. “And state education spending will continue to increase.”
A question to McClain regarding education funding sent late Wednesday was not immediately returned.
Ohio Among Top Sports Betting States
In the three-plus years since brick-and-mortar sportsbooks and online wagering apps began taking bets in the Buckeye State, Ohio has become one of the top states for legalized sports betting.
In 2025 alone, Ohio bettors wagered more than $10.3 billion on sporting events. Of that total, brick-and-mortar operators only booked $191.2 million (or less than 1.9% of the total handle) of those wagers.
However, while there has been a betting boom, it has not come without some controversy. To Ohio’s credit, though, the state has addressed those controversies head-on and created common-sense solutions to combat them.
Just a couple weeks after the launch, Dayton University men’s basketball coach Anthony Grant called out people he said threatened his players over lost bets.
That and other threats made to athletes led Ohio to allow state regulators to permanently ban anyone from wagering in the state if they threaten or harass an athlete. The Buckeye State was the first to do that.
Ohio regulators also became the first to accept the NCAA’s request to ban prop bets on individual college athletes, after its research found that those wagers made up less than 1.5% of the total handle from 2023.
Integrity Issues Arise in Ohio
Of course, there were other issues as well.
In May 2023, Bert Neff went to the BetMGM retail sportsbook in Cincinnati and tried to place a $100,000 wager on LSU to win a college baseball game against Alabama after he found out from Alabama’s coach that its scheduled starting pitcher would not play. The sportsbook allowed him to make a $15,000 bet but later flagged it as suspicious. Neff reportedly showed clerks the messages he received from the coach as he urged the employees to take his wager.
Such incidents, as well as some rules violations by operators in the lead up to the January 2023 launch, led Gov. Mike DeWine to call for doubling the sports betting tax to 20%, which lawmakers approved for the 2023-24 fiscal year budget.
Last year, Major League Baseball placed two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, on leave while it investigated claims they participated in a betting scheme involving the outcome of pitches thrown during the game.
Again, Ohio pushed for changes in betting practices, and after the 2025 season, MLB announced that sportsbooks would cap wagers on individual pitches at $200 and prohibit them on parlays.
Still, the number of incidents that have occurred since sports betting became legal has led to DeWine saying he regrets signing the bill into law. That said, DeWine did try to raise the sports betting tax again to 40% in order to provide state funding for sports stadiums.
Lawmakers rejected that proposal.
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