Ohio sportsbetting legalization program is making progress

In the American state of Ohio and regulators are reportedly making good progress at implementing legislation signed into law late last year so as to bring online and land-based sportsbetting to punters in ‘The Buckeye State’ by the first day of 2023.

According to a Tuesday report from the online news domain at OhBet.com, governor Mike DeWine (pictured) put his signature to House Bill 29 on December 10 in order to make Ohio the 33rd American state to legalize some form of sportsbetting. The source detailed that this move immediately put the Ohio Casino Control Commission on the clock to come up with a vast range of rules covering everything from the licensing process to the list of rules operators would be obliged to follow before a mandated January 1, 2023 launch date.

Inaugural interest:

Ohio is home to approximately 11.8 million people and the regulator reportedly almost immediately released a first batch of proposed rules for stakeholder comments addressing things such as licensing and testing. Interested parties were purportedly allowed to have their say on these propositions until January 7 while the completed consignment was filed with the Midwestern state’s Common Sense Initiative review body some five weeks later.

Further float:

The Ohio Casino Control Commission reportedly followed this by publishing a second consignment of recommended guidelines on January 24 dealing with issues including just who would be allowed to apply for one of state’s coming 58 land-based and mobile-friendly remote sportsbetting licenses alongside more general wagering and equipment provisions. This clutch was purportedly out for comment until February 4 before being filed with the Common Sense Initiative on March 16.

Tight timeline:

House Bill 29 calls for Ohio to begin licensing prospective land-based and online sportsbetting operators from Monday and the run-up was reportedly moreover punctuated by the launch of a third batch of proposed rules covering compulsory and voluntary exclusion programs and responsible gambling procedures. An initial round of stakeholder comments purportedly ended on February 11 before this finalized set of regulations had their Common Sense Initiative filing 28 days later.

Penultimate proposals:

OhBets.com reported that a fourth set of envisioned rules addressing supplier and employee licensing as well as proprietor duties and house rules was made public by the Ohio Casino Commission on February 22. This batch was purportedly the subject of an eleven-day consultation before being released for a ten-day second round that concluded on March 14.

Speeding spring:

All of this was reportedly followed by the March 7 release of a fifth and final batch of proposed sportsbetting rules from the Ohio Casino Commission dealing with further licensing issues in addition to required procedures and general proprietor duties. The public consultation period for this batch purportedly closed some 13 days ago with its second-round re-examination having remained open until Monday.

Friendly forecast:

OhBet.com finished by predicting that the ‘the next significant phases’ of Ohio’s sportsbetting legalization program is to involve the acceptance and issuance of licenses. The source asserted that this long-awaited chapter should get underway ‘within the next quarter’ in order to make sure the state’s sports wagering aficionados can begin placing bets by the first day of 2023.