A forthcoming bill in Ohio would abolish online sports betting under state law.
The bill, dubbed the Save Ohio Sports Act, would require sports betting to be confined to in-person at Ohio’s four casinos. Text of the proposal wasn’t available as of late Tuesday, April 7.
According to a description of the forthcoming bill that GamblingHarm.org obtained from the Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) in Columbus, the bill would also ban in-game betting, prop and parlay bets, and wagers on collegiate athletics.
Additionally, bets would be capped at $100, limited to eight per person in a 24-hour period, and advertisements at sports venues would also be banned.
Governor Would Sign Legislation
The proposal follows numerous comments from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in recent months regarding his regret for legalizing sports betting in 2021. The Republican governor said Ohio should have avoided sanctioning the industry.
The Associated Press reported in November that DeWine said he would sign a repeal of Ohio’s sports betting law if lawmakers sent him one, though he did not think the votes were there.
In 2025, a pair of pitchers on the Cleveland Guardians were indicted for alleged gambling-related crimes involving microbets. It was the most significant gambling scandal impacting Major League Baseball in decades.
Partisan Bill So Far
Sponsors of the Save Ohio Sports Act are:
- Rep. Riordan McClain, R-Upper Sandusky (District 87)
- Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery (District 88)
- Rep. Johnathan Newman, R-Troy (District 80)
- Rep. Kevin Ritter, R-Marietta (District 94)
Bill sponsors scheduled a press conference for April 8 at the Ohio Statehouse.
Bigger Picture
The proposal comes as American attitudes towards legal online sports betting have deteriorated in recent years. According to the Pew Research Center, opposition among men under 30 more than doubled from 2022 to 2025.
Ohio’s efforts to ban online sports betting platforms would face a difficult legislative fight. The legislation would not impact prediction markets, which facilitate a stock-market-style form of sports betting.
DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics, three traditional online sportsbooks operating in Ohio, offer their prediction-style sports betting platforms in states where sports betting is illegal. They would presumably turn to federally regulated prediction-style sports betting if Ohio banned state-sanctioned online betting.
The Supreme Court is expected to eventually weigh in on prediction market sports betting.
Other states that have considered legislation to repeal legal sports betting include Maryland and Vermont.
