Ohio Republicans urge the state to follow neighbors and legalize igaming 

Three Ohio House of Representatives Republicans have submitted a letter to the state urging it to legalize igaming, insisting it can provide a “net benefit.”

While online sports betting has been legal in the Buckeye State since January 2023, online casino and ilottery has not been afforded the same luxury, but that could change following the recent 354-page report compiled by the Study Commission on the Future of Gaming in Ohio, a commission created during the current 135^th Ohio General Assembly .

The letter serves as the preface to the report, which includes testimonies from operators and other politicians on the benefits a legalized online casino market would bring to Ohio.

Within the submission, the representative trio of Jay Edwards, Jeff LaRe, and Cindy Abrams encouraged and outlined reasons why Ohio should legalize igaming despite documented concerns from some of the state’s brick-and-mortar casino locations and lottery outlets, that fear their revenues could be impacted if locals are able to play online.

Those concerns were addressed in the submission, but Edwards, LaRe, and Abrams made clear their belief that the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to igaming’s legalization in the state.

It read: “There has been a lot of discussion around legalizing forms of igaming and ilottery that would allow users the same freedom that online sports gaming does now.

“However, there has been pushback from the brick-and-mortar gaming facilities and lottery retailers who have been worried about the effect that would have on their annual revenue with decreased in-person participation.

“While we understand their hesitation to expand due to an uncertain impact, we believe that ilottery and igaming could be a net benefit to the state of Ohio.

“Looking at other states who have implemented either or both ilottery and igaming, we see significant increases to tax revenues generated with greater participation but also that in-person sales continued to increase. 

“That can largely be contributed to more people participating in the market on their phones and becoming more comfortable/knowledgeable about doing it at a physical location.”

The report goes on to cite the examples of both Pennsylvania, that launched ilottery in 2018 and saw a 20% increase in traditional retail sales soon after, and Kentucky, that also legalized ilottery a year prior in 2017 and has seen a 56% increase of in-store lottery sales since then.

Edwards, LaRe, and Abrams also referred to other states including Connecticut, that reaped the benefits of legalizing igaming and saw 44.7% growth in its second year since its launch, and Michigan, the home of the largest gaming market in the US worth $3.6bn after legalizing in 2021.

“These tax revenue benefits to the state and funding that could be provided to our K-12 education system cannot be overlooked,” the collaboration letter noted. 

Although, the three Republicans did add that if Ohio was to legalize igaming, the state would have to ensure it would not “come at a cost” to those brick-and-mortar casino locations. 

The report included letters backing the launch of igaming from the likes of Caesars Entertainment and Playtech as the politicians looked to bolster their case.

In terms of Playtech, a letter dated in February of this year, saw head of regulatory affairs Charmaine Hogan write: “Playtech strongly believes the regulation of iGaming with all the popular verticals is a massive benefit for all key stakeholders.

“A well-designed regulatory framework to meet demand will ultimately protect players from playing with illegal websites, with no protection against gambling-related problems and personal and financial/banking data, or that any winnings would be paid out to them.”

The document went on to address a number of other hotly contested topics, including the recent tax hike on sports betting implemented through the state’s annual budget, HB33, which saw the rate rise from 10% to 20%.

That move was described as “premature” by the three representatives, who continued: “Sports gaming had just kicked off six months earlier and the General Assembly implemented a substantial tax increase on sports gaming companies who had already invested millions of dollars into kickstarting the industry in Ohio. 

“This hampered the growth that was occurring and made other companies think twice about coming to Ohio to invest.”

Meanwhile, earlier on this year, after a request from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) introduced a ban on prop bets related to college-athletes. This is another decision that has since been brought into question by Edwards, LaRe, and Abrams in the letter, who argued the ban was not needed.

The three representatives cited that given college-athletes are now paid to participate, there is very little difference between their circumstances and that of professional athletes, who are allowed to be the subject of prop bets.

The Ohio legislative session runs until December 31 and has a Republican majority in both the House and Senate.