Legal Sports Betting in Ohio Proves Lucrative in First Seven Months

The launch of legal sports betting in Ohio has been a home run for proprietors, with $4.2 billion in receipts and $563.8 million in revenue in the first seven months of operation. Wagering has been allowed online and in person since Jan. 1, 2023; the Ohio Casino Commission is charged with tracking the financials.

Online sports betting made a huge splash, with gross receipts of more than $1 billion in January alone—far surpassing retail receipts of nearly $23 million the same month. That rush appears to have made little or no negative impact on Ohio casino revenue, which increased to $86.1 million in January 2023 from $75.6 million in January 2022. Year-to-date casino revenue was up through July over the same seven months in 2022.

Almost two dozen sportsbook proprietors operate in the state, with five in Central Ohio. In July, DraftKings accepted the most Ohio sports betting dollars online with $116.2 million. FanDuel was the second most popular app, handling $106.7 million in online bets.

Essentially every major sports team in Ohio has jumped on the bandwagon, or gravy train, by forging partnerships with sports gambling establishments—often at stadium or arena sites.

Among the local partnerships:

• The NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets are affiliated with Fanatics Sportsbook, which opened a retail location just outside Nationwide Arena in August.

• In Major League Soccer, the Columbus Crew is affiliated with Tipico and has a retail location at Lower.com Field.

• The Memorial Tournament/PGA Tour is affiliated with BetPARX.

This story is from the Fall 2023 issue of Columbus CEO.