A new bill was introduced in Ohio on May 20, proposing to both legalize online casinos and ban sweepstakes casinos.
Rep. Brian Stewart‘s House Bill 298 would legalize Ohio online casinos no later than March 31, 2026. The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) would be in charge of regulation as it does with sports betting in the state.
This follows a similar bill that was introduced last week in the Senate. Both bills propose to give licenses to the states’ 11 casinos and racinos and set the license fee at $50 million. Additionally, the two bills allocate 99% of tax revenue to the Ohio general fund, with the remaining 1% going towards problem gambling initiatives.
Differences between the proposals
While both bills aim to legalize Ohio online casinos, the two bills are not companion bills and differ on some key issues. Most notably, Stewart has proposed a 28% tax rate, lower than the 36%-40% in Sen. Nathan Manning’s Senate Bill 197.
Even with this, Stewart expects the 28% rate to generate $400 million a year at a minimum, and possibly as much as $800 million in additional tax revenue.
The license renewal fee is also different with the new bill proposing a $10 million renewal fee every 5 years, compared to the $5 million fee proposed by Manning. Although Manning’s bill sets the same fee for third-party licensees.
SHB298 would only grant licenses to the state’s casinos and racinos, whereas SB197 would allow outside operators such as Caesars or PENN to apply for licenses. These platforms would be charged a higher tax rate of 40% as well as the higher license renewal fee.
Ban on sweepstakes
The other major difference is that Stewart’s bill also includes an explicit ban on sweepstakes casinos that is not present in SB197.
The bill defines an “online sweepstakes game” by its digital accessibility, using a dual-currency system and allowing players to engage in gambling activities, including bingo, sports betting, casino gaming, and lottery games.
Several other states also have active bills tackling sweepstakes and social casinos that have seen an exponential rise in popularity over the past few years. They are especially popular in Ohio, with platforms generating an estimated $3.7 billion last year from Buckeye State residents.
Ohio aiming to expand gambling market
The introduction of another bill to legalize online casinos is a sign the state is moving towards expanding legal gambling options. Gov. Mike DeWine is also in favor of extracting more money from the state’s betting industry. He proposed doubling the tax rate on sports betting, but that move was stripped out of Stewart’s budget.
The danger may be in too many different proposals, all differing slightly. Since the tax hike was rejected, lawmakers have also proposed taxing betting handle at 2%.
The latest proposal will now be reviewed by the House Finance Committee. All proposals have until the end of the legislative session to make it into law, which runs until the end of the calendar year.
Adam is an experienced writer with years of experience in the gambling industry. He has worked as a content writer and editor for five years on sites such as Oddschecker, CoinTelegraph and Gambling Industry News, bringing excellent knowledge of the world of sports betting and online gambling.
