Ohio lawmakers’ conversations about legalizing online casinos got a jumpstart on Sept. 4, when Senator Niraj Antani (R-Miamisburgb) introduced a last-minute bill. Just five session dates remain on the Ohio General Assembly calendar, so SB312 is unlikely to pass in 2024, but could serve to stimulate conversation for next year.
The measure’s 146 pages lack any mention of iLottery, something the majority of the Study Commission on the Future of Gaming in Ohio recommended be included in an iGaming bill. That body spent months studying the subject and hearing testimony before recommending in July that legislators approve Ohio iGaming and iLottery.
While Antani wasn’t a member of the study commission, he’s made his voice heard before on gambling. Notably, on Nov. 21, 2023, he introduced SB190. The measure “to reduce the sports gaming tax rate from 20% to 10%” entered the Senate Finance Committee on Dec. 6, 2023, and never left.
When Ohio sports betting launched on Jan. 1, 2023, the tax rate was 10%. However, that rate increased to 20% on July 1, 2023, at the behest of Gov. Mike DeWine.
Operators have filled state coffers with $231,971,124 in tax revenue since sportsbooks launched and the Sept. 5 NFL kickoff, according to Legal Sports Report.
The possibility of additional tax revenue is the primary reason the majority of study commission members recommended legislators pass iGaming and iLottery in 2025.
However, the study commission’s report didn’t suggest an Ohio online casino tax rate.
Study commission co-chairman Nathan H. Manning didn’t immediately respond to a Sept. 5 request for comment from Bonus about SB312. State Sen. Manning, R-North Ridgeville, told Play USA‘s Matthew Kredell on Sept. 4 that Antani’s bill is unlikely to “move this late in the session.”
Bonus, Play USA, and LSR are Catena Media publications.
Ohio iGaming Bill Amends Sports Betting Law
Antani’s lengthy bill proposes amending Ohio’s existing retail casino and sports betting laws to authorize iGaming. It adds a few sections specific to iGaming, but also inserts phrases to include online casino gaming and the relevant permits in most of the laws that already apply to those other forms of gaming.
For one thing, that means the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) would regulate online casinos as it does retail casinos and online sports betting. Another interesting feature is that Ohio retail casinos can automatically offer any slot or table game that has approval from regulators in Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania or West Virginia—Antani’s bill extends this to online casinos, so operators would be able to offer extensive game catalogs from day one.
Antani proposed a 15% tax rate, lower than what other lawmakers are likely to propose in 2025.
SB312 also proposes the following:
- $100,000 application fee
- $300,000 one-year permit fee, and $250,000 for renewals
- $250,000 problem gambling fund fee, which remains the same charge at renewal
The bill also outlines “internet casino gaming” as including slots and table games, but excluding bingo and skill games.
Antani’s measure also doesn’t appear to mention the possibility of multi-jurisdictional online poker play, which is allowed in Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, and West Virginia. (No operators yet offer online poker in the Mountain State, even though it’s legal. Also, Delaware doesn’t currently have an online poker operator.)
A Time Limit on Constitutional Challenges
Ohio’s constitution prohibits gambling, with carveouts for the lottery and the state’s retail casinos. When it passed its sports betting bill in 2021, there was some question of whether that amounted to a change that would require a referendum. Although the state went ahead with sports betting without a constitutional amendment, the spectre of a possible legal challenge still looms overhead.
Antani warned about that possibility in 2021 and has taken steps to address it in his online casino bill. His proposal includes clauses stipulating that any challenge would have to be filed within 90 days of the bill’s passage. The same would apply to any relevant administrative rules implemented by the OCCC.
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