Sports bettors in Ohio were confident that they would see the sports betting bill approved without the need for a voter referendum. However, things are not so clear anymore as the election results have made things a bit complicated.
The Ohio sports betting bill had three main backers in Republican senators John Eklund, Rep. Dave Greenspan and Democrat Sean O’Brien. It was Senator Eklund who was the main driving force behind the bill and he will no longer be able to push it forward as his term has been timed out.
Senators O’Brien and Greenspan will also not be able to do much since they ended up losing their re-election bids. With the three main sponsors of the bill being out in limbo, one is not sure what is going to happen with the sports betting bill in the months to come. Ohio is very keen to legalize sports betting and create a new revenue stream for the state.
The SB 111 bill that Elkund sponsored has received support from both chambers and generally everyone is in agreement with regards to allowing mobile betting, setting the licensing fee at $100,000 and not making it mandatory for bettors to use official league data.
The difference in agreement is based on who will be the betting regulator in the state and what will be the tax rate?
SB 111 proposes a 6.25 percent tax rate and is pushing for the Casino Control Commission to be the sports betting regulator. HB 194 which is sponsored by Greenspan wants the Ohio Lottery to be the sports betting regulator and a tax rate of 10 percent to be imposed.
HB 194 makes it mandatory for the lottery to roll out 1,250 sports betting terminals within a 90 day period from the bill’s effective date. The lottery will have another 90 days’ time after this to roll out an additional 1,250 sports betting terminals.
The Ohio State legislator has commenced sessions from this week. The first full Senate and House sessions will take place on Nov 17. There will most likely be a total of 10 sessions for both champers before they close on Dec 22. Will Ohio legislators be willing to discuss sports betting legislation in this period and make a decision before the end of 2020?
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