Will 2021 Be The Year For Legal Sports Betting In Ohio?

State Legislature Currently Drafting Bill For Legal Ohio Sportsbooks
Intent Is To Re-Route Regional & Offshore Revenue Back Into Ohio
MGM Resorts International & Other Local Casinos Are On-Board

Lawmakers in Ohio are currently drafting legislation that would allow for domestic sportsbooks to begin operating within the state’s borders, following the lead of neighboring territories.

The main instigator for legal sports betting in Ohio is the same in all states – outside competition.

Ohio shares a border with Michigan and Pennsylvania, and both of those states are currently raking in the sports betting revenue at an extremely high volume via their in-person, mobile, and online domestic sportsbook venues.

Regional sports gambling laws do not require bettors to be a citizen of that state to place a wager at one of their domestic sports betting locations.

This allows for tourists and visitors from nearby states to enter and freely partake in all of the domestic sports betting they desire, as long as they meet the minimum age requirements and have some money to wager with.

Have a look at our state-by-state legal sports betting revenue tracker and see for yourself just how well Pennsylvania and Michigan are performing.

It is the above referenced financial totals, as well as the enormous revenue shares that are captured by offshore sportsbook sites, that has the Ohio legislature placing these measures on the fast track.

Ohio’s legislative session is scheduled to run for the entire calendar year of 2021, concluding on December 31^st.

That gives elected politicians plenty of time to get these bills drafted, pass them through the requisite committees, and be placed on the agenda for debate on the Senate and House floors before the end of the year.

While that timeline does not provide for enough leeway to ensure that domestic sportsbooks open up in Ohio in time for the beginning of the 2021 NFL Season, they could debut in time for betting on Super Bowl 56.

We expect these Ohio sports betting bills to be introduced any day now so stay tuned to Sports Betting Legal for future developments.

Samantha Gordon

Samantha Gordon has been an author at SportsBetting.legal for several years now. She works as Managing Editor in addition to supporting the current writing staff, but her educational background is in Marketing and Business Administration. Samantha also provides marketing support and oversees data management and bill tracking for US state-regulated sports betting legislation. Since she was a young girl, history was Samantha’s favorite subject in school. Something about following how a true story unfolded always fascinated her. At Sportsbetting.legal, she has a front row seat in the rapidly changing legal landscape of the US sports betting market as she observes history in the making right before her very eyes – and she feels that this kind of makes it special that she’s a part of it all. Samantha comes from a mixed ethnic background heavily influenced by Asian culture. Growing up, she was always inspired by pioneer women of color who broke barriers and norms to make way for their ideas and dreams. In her spare time, Samantha loves to watch old movies and interviews with influential actors, activists, athletes, and artists who were not scared to cut their own cloth. As one could probably guess from this and her favorite sport, Verena Mei is undeniably her favorite rally driver. Currently, Samantha lives in Tallahassee FL after relocating to work alongside Sportsbetting.legal. However, she regularly travels back home to visit her family and reconnect after being away for long periods for work.

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