{"id":204721,"date":"2026-04-09T06:40:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=204721"},"modified":"2026-04-09T06:40:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:40:55","slug":"new-sports-betting-restrictions-proposed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/04\/09\/new-sports-betting-restrictions-proposed\/","title":{"rendered":"New sports betting restrictions proposed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Nick Evans\/Ohio Capital Journal<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLUMBUS — Three Ohio Republican lawmakers are introducing legislation to place \u201cguardrails\u201d on the state\u2019s sports betting system, including stopping online\/phone gambling, limits on wagers, banning the use of credit for betting, and limiting advertisement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They warn that gambling is as addictive as illegal drugs, costs Ohio citizens enormous amounts of money, and threatens the integrity of sporting events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clinical Director of Addiction Services at Lindner Center of Hope Dr. Chris Tuell explained among addictive behaviors, gambling has the highest suicide rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the number one reason for divorce isn\u2019t infidelity, it\u2019s financial problems.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
State Rep. Riordan McClain, R-Upper Sandusky, introducing sports betting regulation legislation, alongside (left to right) Center for Christian Virtue President Aaron Baer, and Ohio state Reps. Gary Click, R-Vickery, and Johnathan Newman, R-Troy. Photo by Nick Evans, Ohio Capital Journal<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThis is Narcan,\u201d he said, holding up the small plastic nasal spray. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a spray for problem gambling. We don\u2019t have a pill for problem gambling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohio state Reps. Riordan McClain, R-Upper Sandusky, Gary Click, R-Vickery, and Johnathan Newman, R-Troy, acknowledge that sports betting is here to stay. But they want to place restrictions on what, how, and where Ohioans can wager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fact is that most betters do not win,\u201d McClain said, citing statistics that only about five percent of sports bettors make money<\/a> over the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat means roughly 95 percent of Ohioans who are betting make deposits, not withdrawals,\u201d McClain said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click asked, \u201cIs it really worth the taxes that we gain to risk people\u2019s lives, their mental health, their personal well-being, their families, their homes? I don\u2019t think it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, while we\u2019re not going to roll back the clock to what it was before,\u201d he went on, \u201cwe\u2019re going to put some common-sense consumer protections in place to protect Ohio citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislative language for the lawmakers\u2019 ideas is still getting hammered out, but they\u2019re expecting to file two proposals: one focused on consumer protections and the other on sports integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Consumer protections<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newman described Ohio\u2019s current sports betting landscape as a freeway with \u201cno lines on it, no speed limits on it, no off ramps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is provide some lines on the freeway, some guardrails, some off ramps, and some speed limits to rein in some great harms that we see,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The consumer protection measure will place restrictions on how much Ohioans can wager and how often they can do so in a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will also bar bettors from using credit cards or other forms of debt to place wagers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sports books would face new limits on where and when they can run ads, and they would not be allowed to offer financial incentives to get people involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe comparisons to drugs here are so unbelievably obvious,\u201d Center for Christian Virtue President Aaron Baer said. \u201cWhere they\u2019re like, hey, just come get a taste, right? And then, you\u2019ll see you like it, and then you\u2019ll come back for more and more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps most significantly, though, the lawmakers want to limit betting to Ohio\u2019s casinos \u2014 effectively prohibiting Ohioans from placing bets on their phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you combine the addiction of gambling with the addiction one of these devices,\u201d Click said, holding up a cellphone, \u201cit\u2019s synergistic in a bad way. It multiplies upon itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony Coder, CEO of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation, explained suicide often happens when an individual is alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTherefore, language that restricts sports betting only within casinos, rather than on a phone while sitting alone at night could prevent that,\u201d Coder said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose are lonely moments, and they can intensify as one dwells on their own thoughts and there is no one there to help that person find help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sports integrity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

McClain, Click, and Newman are also concerned about impact sports betting could have on the games themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThink of how much outrage we feel when a ref misses an obvious call,\u201d Newman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe feel the outrage. Do we really want the rest of our lives to be watching every bad call from a ref going, who\u2019s in his ear? Who\u2019s calling him? Who\u2019s threatening his family? Do we want that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sports integrity bill will prohibit any in-game bets as well as any wagers on college sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It does away with what are known as \u2018prop\u2019 bets, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those are wagers based on a particular player\u2019s statistics in a given game \u2014 for instance, touchdowns scored, strikeouts thrown, or three pointers made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an executive order, Gov. DeWine already prohibited prop bets for collegiate sports<\/a> but stopped short of doing the same for professional contests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The measure will also eliminate parlay bets, where a bettor string together several different wagers into one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those bets offer higher returns, but the odds are stacked heavily against bettors<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Road ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all the sponsors\u2019 legitimate concerns about financial losses and mental health impacts tied to gambling, however, they\u2019re likely to face an uphill climb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legislation that made sports betting legal in the state passed overwhelmingly in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click noted there are many lawmakers who have misgivings about gambling. He pointed to the failed effort last year to legalize online casinos as part of the state budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McClain acknowledged that in his conversations with colleagues, \u201cthe initial response certainly is mixed, but there is support for this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that while the governor hasn\u2019t endorsed their legislation, there are elements in the proposals that he\u2019s supported in the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nick Evans\/Ohio Capital Journal COLUMBUS — Three Ohio Republican lawmakers are introducing legislation to place \u201cguardrails\u201d on the state\u2019s sports betting system, including stopping online\/phone gambling, limits on wagers, banning the use of credit for betting, and limiting advertisement. They warn that gambling is as addictive as illegal drugs, costs Ohio citizens enormous amounts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-16 10:09:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204721"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204724,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204721\/revisions\/204724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}