Ohio introduces online casino legislation featuring 15% tax rate
Senate Bill 312 outlines regulatory framework for igaming in the Buckeye State which would become the eighth US state allow regulated online casino
An Ohio senator has introduced a new bill into the state senate which aims to legalize online casino gaming.
Niraj Antani introduced Senate Bill 312, which outlines a legal framework for online casino gaming and would be overseen by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.
The 146-page bill would allow for 11 online casino apps available to players, one for each of the state’s current casinos and racinos.
Ohio’s four land-based casinos are the Hollywood Casino branches in Toledo and Columbus, the Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati, and the Jack Cleveland Casino in Cleveland.
The racinos include Jack Thistledown Racino, MGM Northfield Park, Miami Valley Gaming, Belterra Park Cincinnati, Eldorado Gaming Scioto Downs, and two Hollywood Gaming branches at Dayton Raceway and Mahoning Valley Race Course.
Licenses will be valid for one year, and prospective operators will be obliged to pay a license application fee of at least $100,000, a permit fee of at least $300,000, and a “problem gambling fee” of at least $250,000.
Upon renewal of a license, operators will have to pay an additional $250,000 fee and another $250,000 problem gambling fee.
The bill also proposes a tax rate of 15%, which would be lower than Ohio’s sports betting tax rate of 20%.
Another component of the bill would see the number of casino affiliates in Ohio capped at five, with sports betting affiliates being uncapped, albeit the firms must be licensed to operate in Ohio.
However, Republican senator Antani is term-limited, meaning that if the bill is not discussed in the session before the end of the year, it will lose its sponsor in 2025.
The Ohio legislature is due to return for a so-called lame-duck session after the November elections.
Should the legislation come to pass, Ohio would become the eighth state to allow legal online casino after Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.
In July, Republican members of Ohio’s House of Representatives penned an open letter to the state urging it to legalize igaming.