College Sports Betting in Ohio
Ohio Casino Control Commission is hard at work ironing out the Ohio sports betting legislation before the universal 01/01/2023 launch date. One of the biggest questions on the table is if and how will Ohio regulate betting on college sports? Will betting on all college sports and teams be available, or will they go down the same path as New Jersey and ban betting on in-state college teams?
History
The history of regulating college sports betting starts with New Jersey and the end of PASPA in 2018. The New Jersey government deemed betting on instate college teams to be detrimental, so they banned all the bets involving in-state college teams like the Rutgers. Furthermore, they banned bets on all the college events taking place in that state. Since then, attempts to overturn this decission have failed, largely due to lack of voter interest on the matter.
As a flagship of legal sports betting, New Jersey set an example for many other states to follow, and since then, states like New York and Connecticut have followed NJ’s lead and in banning betting on in-state college teams. However, none of these states rival Ohio for the success of their college sports teams (albeit, one might argue that the Connecticut Huskies women’s basketball and coach Geno Auriemma come close). Even though Ohio has more than half a dozen professional sports teams, banning bets on college sports might be detrimental to Ohio online gambling as a whole.
Current Situation in Ohio
Ohio legislators understand the issue of college sports betting very well. That’s why there has been no resistance to allowing sports wagers on college sports from the legislators. However, there has been pushback from the Universities, who feel that Ohio sports betting apps should be restricted to offering lines on college football and college basketball.
What College Sports Are Going To Be Available in Ohio?
As the situation stands, the most likely solution is that sports betting sites like BetMGM Ohio will only be able to offer lines on college basketball and college football. However, it’s not impossible that the legislators might decide to ignore the universities. If they do, there is one sport that is of particular interest to Ohioans – wrestling.
The Buckeye State loves it’s wrestling and we would not be suprised to see Ohio sportsbook promo codes used for the Big 10 finals or the NCAA championships. And who would not like to bet on the Buckeyes when they go against the Iowa Hawkeyes? If betting on wrestling is allowed, it might open the floodgates for operators to offer betting on other college sports as well. As of now however, it looks like only football and basketball would make the approved sports list.
