Three Ohio House members to introduce bills to curtail sports betting
New bills come four months after state governor Mike DeWine described legalization as his “biggest mistake” in office
Three Ohio lawmakers have announced their intention to file two bills that would place significant restrictions on sports betting in the Buckeye State.
The three Republican Ohio House members, Gary Click, Johnathan Newman, and Riordan McClain, held a press conference on Tuesday, April 8, to signpost their proposed regulatory changes.
The new restrictions would include: limiting the amount and frequency of bets, banning the funding of bets with credit cards, limiting sports betting to casinos, and prohibiting platforms from offering financial incentives.
Further proposed changes are restrictions on advertising and a ban on all college athletics wagers and prop, in-game, and parlay bets.
Supporters of the bills, such as executive director of the Center for Christian Virtue Aaron Baer and CEO of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation Tony Coder, were also present at the conference.
On the proposals, Click said: “We do understand that people want some form of legalized sports gambling; we’re not removing that.
“But we also know people want consumer protections; that they want to be protected from predatory advertisements and predatory gambling in Ohio because the house always wins. We know that.”
Some aspects of regulation have already been altered since Ohio’s legalization of sports betting in January 2023. The tax rate on net revenue was doubled from 10% to 20% in 2024, and college prop bets were banned in the same year.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine expressed regret at the end of last year for approving legalization, citing the “power” of gambling companies to aggressively advertise.
In 2025, Ohio took $209.1m in tax revenue from sports betting. The proposed restrictions could reduce this number significantly if they are approved.