Betting in Ohio

When Ohio went live on January 1, 2023, it set a national record: more online sportsbooks launched on day one than in any other state rollout to date.

FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, bet365, BetRivers, Barstool, Tipico, PointsBet, BetJack, and several others all opened simultaneously - a scale no market has matched before or since.

That depth wasn’t accidental. Ohio is one of the strongest sports cultures in the country - Buckeyes football, pro franchises across every major league, massive retail casino hubs, and an avid year-round betting audience. Operators knew the potential and flooded in immediately, creating a market where line variance, promotional competition, and operator innovation were baked in from day one.

For bettors, that meant the rarest thing in U.S. wagering: a fully mature, multi-operator ecosystem on launch day, with instant liquidity and real competitive pressure shaping how books priced and promoted.

Ohio opened at a 10% tax rate, but lawmakers doubled it to 20% in mid-2023 to accelerate state revenue. That makes Ohio a high-tax state, but not a punitive one - it sits below New York (51%), Pennsylvania (36%), and Illinois’ progressive brackets, but well above the low-tax markets in the Midwest like Indiana (9.5%) and Michigan (8.4%).

The effect is exactly what bettors would expect: promos tightened after the tax hike, welcome bonuses became more measured, and some operators reduced their all-out acquisition spend. The market is still competitive - just not Ohio-launch-day competitive.

Ohio took one of the cleanest approaches to college wagering in the country: no bans on in-state schools, no restrictions on player props, and no carve-outs on championship or postseason betting.

For bettors, that means everything is on the table - Ohio State, Cincinnati, Dayton, MACtion, college futures, player props, and conference markets.

It’s a wide-open college betting environment with none of the limitations found in New Jersey, New York, Illinois, or Massachusetts.

Ohio has one of the clearest DFS landscapes in the Midwest. Traditional DFS platforms - DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo - all operate legally under the state’s 2017 fantasy contest framework.

But Ohio draws a hard line at Pick ’Em formats.

In 2023, the Ohio Casino Control Commission formally ruled that Pick ’Em contests constitute sports betting, not fantasy sports - which means they require a sportsbook license to operate. PrizePicks, Underdog, and similar operators do not hold such licenses in Ohio, and the state has ordered them to stop offering Pick ’Em-style products.

With traditional iGaming off the table, sweepstakes sportsbooks and sweepstakes casinos fill the void using dual-currency, prize-based systems that fall under federal sweepstakes rules rather than Ohio gambling law.

For players, these platforms offer a legal way to access casino-style play (slots, table games, etc.) and social-style sports contests that can award redeemable prizes - all without violating the state’s prohibition on online casinos.

Ohio bans wagering on politics, awards shows, entertainment outcomes, and most non-sports events. But federally regulated prediction markets operate under the Commodity Exchange Act, not state gambling law, making them legally accessible for Ohio residents.

These platforms allow trading on elections, economic indicators, policy events, and cultural outcomes - categories no regulated sportsbook in the state can touch.