Remember this date: January 1, 2023. Yeah, we all know it’s New Year’s Day with a slew of college football games. But it’s also the universal start date for sports betting in Ohio, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission.
To reach that date, the commission needs applications in hand by July 15. Although the commission will accept applications after July 15, it wouldn’t guarantee they would be processed for the January 1 start. As of July 12, Bally’s, Hard Rock, Rush Street Interactive and Caesars have yet to apply. But apparently, Caesars has its application in the works, according to Sports Handle.
Since the commission began accepting applications on June 15, a total of 18 have come in: four Type A, three Type B, one Type C, six Mobile Management Service Providers and four Management Service Providers.
Ohio’s sports betting law allows up to 25 online operators and 40 retail sportsbooks.
Caesars has partnered with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers that involves a retail sportsbook inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
“We’re going to be there January 1,” a Caesars spokesman said. “There’s no reason to believe that we won’t.”
BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, Penn National Gaming, PointsBet, and Fanatics have all applied for mobile management services provider licenses.
Elys Gameboard Technologies is the only applicant so far for a Type C sports gaming proprietor license.
Included in an updated applications list of partners and operators published by the commission on July 16 are JACK Cleveland Casino and PlayUp; HOF Village Newco-Instabet; Cincinnati Bengals-Betfred; MGM Northfield Park-BetMGM; Scioto Downs-Caesars Sportsbook; Hard Rock Cincinnati-Hard Rock Sportsbook; Cleveland Browns-Bally Bet; Columbus Blue Jackets-Fanatics; Columbus Crew-Tipico; Muirfield Village Golf Club-Parx Interactive; Cincinnati Reds-Underdog Sports; Cleveland Cavaliers-Fubo; Hollywood Casino Columbus-Barstool Sportsbook; Cleveland Guardians-bet365; Hollywood Casino Toledo-DraftKings; Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley-PointsBet; FC Cincinnati-SuperBook; SPIRE Institute-Out the Gate.
There were also some unusual applications, including Phantom Fireworks, a national fireworks retailer, and Brooklyn-based Underdog Sports, previously just a DFS operator.
