OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 29 Final Analysis
134th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 29’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Passed by the General Assembly
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Wiggam and A. Miller
Effective date: March 23, 2022
Effective Date:
Emily E. Wendel, Attorney
SUMMARY
Sports gaming
Overview
 Legalizes and regulates sports gaming (betting) in Ohio through sports gaming
proprietors licensed and regulated by the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) to
offer sports gaming online, at sports gaming facilities, and in the form of lottery sports
gaming at bars and restaurants.
 Requires participants to be at least 21 and to be physically present in Ohio.
 Requires the Executive Director of OCCC to set an initial licensing schedule and a
universal start date for sports gaming that is not later than January 1, 2023.
Permitted sporting events for betting
 Allows betting on any professional sport or athletic event, any collegiate sport or
athletic event, any Olympic or international sports competition event, any motor race
event, any esports event, or any other special event OCCC authorizes for sports gaming.
 Prohibits betting on any sport or athletic event for primary or secondary school
students.
 Prohibits betting on an event that involves athletes or participants who are under 18,
unless OCCC authorizes the event for sports gaming.
Permitted and prohibited wagers
 Provides that for purposes of wagering online or in a sports gaming facility, “sports
gaming” includes exchange wagering, parlays, spreads, over-under, moneyline, in-game
wagering, single-game bets, teaser bets, in-play bets, proposition bets, pools, pari-
January 20, 2022
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
mutuel sports wagering pools, straight bets, or any other type of wagering on sporting
events approved by OCCC.
 Limits lottery sports gaming to spread, over-under, and moneyline wagering and certain
types of parlay wagering on sporting events, as approved by OCCC.
 Allows OCCC, independently or at the request of any person, including a sports
governing body, to prohibit or restrict wagers on a particular sporting event or to
prohibit or restrict a particular type of wager.
 Provides a process for a sports governing body to formally request OCCC to prohibit or
restrict wagers on a particular sporting event or to prohibit or restrict a particular type
of wager.
Online sports gaming
 Allows a type A sports gaming proprietor to operate one or more online sports pool
websites and accompanying mobile applications.
 Requires the proprietor to accept wagers only from individuals who are at least 21 and
who are physically located in Ohio, and to use location based technology to prohibit
individuals who are not physically present in Ohio from participating in sports gaming
through the online sports pool.
 Requires the server responsible for accepting wagers through the online sports pool to
be located in a secure facility in Ohio.
 Allows a proprietor to accept a wager through an online sports pool only using a sports
gaming account tied to the individual’s legal name.
Sports gaming facilities
 Allows a type B sports gaming proprietor to operate one sports gaming facility per
license, at which the proprietor accepts wagers on sporting events from individuals who
are at least 21 and who are physically present in the facility, either in person or using
self-service sports gaming terminals.
 Requires the proprietor to accept a wager only using a registration tied to the
individual’s legal name, unless the wager does not exceed a dollar limit determined by
OCCC rule.
 Prohibits any person under 21 from entering a sports gaming facility, with certain
exceptions for employees and for persons who are passing through to another area.
Lottery sports gaming
 Requires the State Lottery Commission (LOT) to operate lottery sports gaming as part of
the statewide lottery, and requires each type C sports gaming proprietor to contract
with LOT to operate lottery sports gaming on behalf of LOT in exchange for a portion of
the state’s proceeds from lottery sports gaming.
P a g e |2 H.B. 29
As Passed by the General Assembly
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
 Allows a type C sports gaming proprietor, acting on behalf of LOT, to accept wagers on
sporting events only at type C sports gaming hosts’ facilities on self-service or clerk-
operated terminals, and only from individuals who are at least 21 and who are physically
present in the facility.
 Specifies requirements for lottery sports gaming, including limits on the type and
amount of wagers and the accepted methods of payment.
 Allows LOT to adopt rules in consultation with OCCC to implement the act, so long as
those rules are not in conflict with OCCC rules.
Sports gaming licenses
 Requires OCCC to license sports gaming proprietors to offer sports gaming in Ohio under
type A, type B, and type C licenses.
 Requires OCCC also to license management services providers, who may contract with a
type A or type B sports gaming proprietor to operate sports gaming; type C sports
gaming hosts; employees who are involved in the operation of sports gaming; and
sports gaming suppliers.
Sports gaming proprietors
 Initially sets a maximum of 25 licensed type A sports gaming proprietors, who offer
sports gaming through online sports pools and accompanying mobile applications, with
an option for OCCC to issue additional type A licenses under certain circumstances.
 Requires OCCC to license not more than 40 type B sports gaming proprietors to offer
sports gaming at sports gaming facilities.
 Sets a maximum number of sports gaming facilities that may be located in a county
based on the county’s population.
 Requires OCCC to license at least two, and not more than 20, type C sports gaming
proprietors to contract with LOT to offer lottery sports gaming at type C sports gaming
hosts’ facilities.
 Specifies the process to apply for sports gaming proprietor licenses and the criteria
OCCC must use in awarding licenses.
Management services providers
 Creates two categories: “mobile management services providers,” which may contract
with type A sports gaming proprietors, and “management services providers,” which
may contract with type B sports gaming proprietors, to operate sports gaming on behalf
of the proprietors.
 Allows a type A sports gaming proprietor, in general, to contract with only one mobile
management services provider, but allows for a second contract under certain
circumstances.
P a g e |3 H.B. 29
As Passed by the General Assembly
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
 Allows a type B sports gaming proprietor to contract with one management services
provider.
 Requires a separate mobile management services provider or management services
provider license for each contract, and requires OCCC to set a maximum number of
licenses a person may hold.
 Provides processes to obtain and renew those licenses.
 Specifies a process for a professional sports organization that is prohibited by a league,
association, or organization from operating sports gaming to appoint a mobile
management services provider or management services provider and to establish a
firewall between the professional sports organization and the provider in order to
ensure the integrity of sporting events and of sports gaming.
 Requires OCCC to approve the contract between a sports gaming proprietor and a
mobile management services provider or a management services provider.
Type C sports gaming hosts
 Allows the owner of a facility with a D-1, D-2, or D-5 liquor permit to apply to OCCC for a
type C sports gaming host license to offer lottery sports gaming at the facility through a
type C sports gaming proprietor.
 Specifies the process to obtain and renew such a license.
 Provides requirements concerning agreements between type C sports gaming
proprietors and their hosts.
Sports gaming occupational licenses
 Requires an individual with sports gaming related duties with a sports gaming proprietor
to receive a sports gaming occupational license.
 Exempts a type C sports gaming host and its employees from the requirement to obtain
a sports gaming occupational license.
 Specifies the process to apply for an initial or renewed sports gaming occupational
license.
Sports gaming suppliers
 Requires a person or entity that provides sports gaming equipment or related services
to a sports gaming proprietor or management services provider to have a sports gaming
supplier license.
 Specifies the process to apply for an initial or renewed sports gaming supplier license.
License preferences and suitability factors
 Requires OCCC, in issuing initial and renewed type A and B sports gaming proprietor
licenses, to give preference to applicants that are professional sports organizations,
casino operators, or racino operators.
P a g e |4 H.B. 29
As Passed by the General Assembly
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
 Prohibits OCCC from giving preference to an applicant for a sports gaming proprietor
license on the basis that the applicant, or the applicant’s parent company or subsidiary,
currently contract, or have contracted, with LOT or any other state agency.
 Requires OCCC to consider certain factors in issuing sports gaming proprietor,
management services provider, and sports gaming supplier licenses.
Denial, suspension, and revocation of licenses
 Requires all applicants for sports gaming related licenses issued under the act, other
than type C sports gaming hosts, to establish their suitability by clear and convincing
evidence and to meet certain criteria.
 Specifies additional criteria for sports gaming proprietors, management services
providers, and their parent companies.
 Allows OCCC to deny, suspend, or revoke a license if the criteria are not met.
Equity in licensing
 Requires an independent study to determine whether, and the extent to which,
qualified persons experience discrimination or disadvantage in the sports gaming
industry on the basis of their membership in a racial minority group, their color or
ethnicity, their gender, or their disability.
 Requires that, if OCCC determines that the results of the study so warrant, OCCC must
establish goals to ensure that sports gaming licenses are issued to disadvantaged
applicants on an equitable basis with other applicants.
Display of license
 Requires sports gaming licensees to display their licenses or make them available for
inspection.
Changes to license information
 Requires sports gaming licensees to report any material change in their information to
OCCC, and requires OCCC to determine what it considers to be material.
Persons who may not participate in sports gaming
 Specifies several categories of individuals who are not permitted to participate in sports
gaming, including individuals who are on an exclusion list, who are associated with a
sports gaming proprietor or with OCCC, or who are involved in a sporting event.
 Requires OCCC to maintain an involuntary exclusion list for purposes of sports gaming,
as well as a voluntary exclusion program.
 Requires a sports gaming proprietor to employ commercially reasonable methods to
prevent those individuals from placing bets with the proprietor.
P a g e |5 H.B. 29
As Passed by the General Assembly
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Sports gaming proprietor operating requirements
 Lists several requirements concerning sports gaming proprietors’ operations, including
financial controls, integrity monitoring, recordkeeping, and requirements regarding
promotional gaming credits and unclaimed winnings.
OCCC oversight
 Gives OCCC jurisdiction over all persons conducting or participating in the conduct of
sports gaming authorized under the act.
 Requires OCCC to adopt all rules regarding sports gaming in accordance with the
Administrative Procedure Act.
 Exempts OCCC and LOT rules regarding sports gaming from continuing-law limitations
on agency regulatory restrictions.
 Specifies several types of rules that OCCC must adopt governing sports gaming
proprietors’ operations, including financial requirements, consumer protections,
advertising guidelines, and the necessary capital investments in sports gaming facilities.
 Requires OCCC to approve all sports gaming equipment and each form, variation, or
composite of sports gaming to be used by sports gaming proprietors.
 Requires OCCC to monitor all sports gaming conducted in Ohio, or contract with an
independent integrity monitoring provider for that purpose, in order to identify any
unusual betting activities or patterns that may indicate a need for further investigation.
 Requires OCCC to prescribe rules requiring sports gaming proprietors to share
anonymized sports gaming data with sports governing bodies and state universities for
certain purposes.
 Requires OCCC to keep confidential certain categories of information provided to OCCC
by an applicant for a sports gaming license.
 Specifies that certain information regarding sports gaming proprietors is subject to
disclosure under the Public Records Law.
 Allows OCCC to conduct adjudications under the Administrative Procedure Act to
regulate sports gaming, and allows OCCC’s Executive Director to issue emergency orders
for that purpose.
 Requires OCCC to levy and collect fines for noncriminal violations of the act and of
OCCC’s rules adopted under the act.
 Requires OCCC, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and sports governing bodies to
cooperate in investigating potential violations of the act or OCCC’s rules.
 Gives the Attorney General a civil cause of action to restrain any violation of the act or
of rules adopted under the act.
P a g e |6 H.B. 29
As Passed by the General Assembly
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Withholding amounts from sports gaming winnings
 Requires sports gaming proprietors and LOT to withhold state and certain municipal
income taxes from patrons’ winnings whenever federal income tax withholding is
required.
 Requires sports gaming proprietors and LOT also to withhold any past due child or
spousal support and any debts owed to the state or a political subdivision from any
sports gaming winnings that meet or exceed the Internal Revenue Service federal
income tax withholding threshold.
State revenue from sports gaming
Lottery sports gaming revenue
 Treats the proceeds of lottery sports gaming the same as the state’s other lottery
proceeds, and requires the state’s profits to be used to support public education.
Tax on sports gaming
 Imposes a 10% tax on a type A or type B sports gaming proprietor’s net revenue from
sports gaming.
 Requires that the sports gaming tax be administered in much the same way as the
state’s existing tax on casino revenue.
 Applies the sports gaming tax to any unlicensed person who operates a sports gaming
facility.
Distribution of state sports gaming revenue