Ohio State Senate introduces sports betting bill

Sports betting’s march through the United States of America continues this week as the Ohio State Senate introduced SB111, which would legalize the activity throughout the state. It’s a bill that, if passed, would give the Buckeye State a very effective and progressive version of US sports betting.
SB111 was introduced by Senators John Eklund and Sean O’Brien earlier this week and has the support of Governor Mike Devine (R).
Under the terms of the bill, sports betting could be offered at any of the state’s 11 casinos and racinos and would be taxed at 6.25 of gross revenue. Potential licensees would have to pay a $100,000 application fee to get the ball rolling.
Sports betting providers would be allowed to offer online wagering and remote signups for that service. They would, however, be limited to one platform and would have to keep the servers in the building, or in a secure facility that’s inside the state, according to Legal Sports Report.
What’s noteworthy about the Ohio sports betting bill is that it does not include any mention of the so-called integrity fees that have been demanded by professional sports leagues. Integrity fees are a cut of the action that’s given to groups like the NFL to help ferret out any potential fraud that regulated sports betting could add to their games.
Ohio’s sports betting bill actually stands a pretty good chance of getting passed as sports betting already has the support of the state’s governor. It’s also being introduced right alongside the state’s budget for next year. This helps its chances as legislators will be looking for new revenue sources to help fund the projects included in the bill.