The Ohio Casino Control Commission has ruled that gift cards, subject to the rules of Chapter 3775 of the Revised Code, will at some point be allowed to be used as currency for Ohio sports betting, both mobile and retail.
Give the Gift of Sports Betting
We don’t normally associate gift cards with sports betting, and in fact, very few of us have even considered it. However, the Ohio Casino Control Commission has entertained the idea at the request of the companies that can benefit from them and have ruled that those that have been reviewed and selected as authorized vendors will be allowed to sell them on the open market.
As of this writing, no companies have asked to be approved by the regulatory commission but there will likely be more than a few companies interested in having their gift cards available for sale.
Conditions to Follow
Requirements such as adding language on the cards about responsible gambling and a phone number instructing the customer where to call for help will be part of the protocol.
Sports betting gift cards will not be allowed to be sold to those under the age of 21 and advertising will be restricted from targeting that demographic and prohibited from marketing the cards near college and university campuses.
The cards will be allowed to fund accounts through sports betting apps, like BetMGM which sells them at several retail outlets located in states that have already approved sports betting gift cards. According to the BetMGM site, a customer must:
- Purchase a BetMGM Gift Card at a retail location near you.
- Log in to your account and enter your PIN in the BetMGM gift card deposit method.
- Start betting!
Retail or in-person betting will also accept the gift cards once they are approved. However, when the first wave of gift cards will be approved is not yet certain but Ohioans will inevitably be getting a new kind of present under their Christmas trees sooner than later.
Buckeye State Booming
January saw the launch of sports betting in Ohio and the numbers did not disappoint. A whopping $1.1 billion was wagered and sportsbooks generated $208.9 million in revenue because of it. But an anticipated decline in February manifested due to the lack of NFL and college football, apart from the biggest single sporting event in North America – the Super Bowl.
A handle of $638 million which sportsbooks generated north of $82 million in February was still a healthy take for Ohio’s nascent sports betting industry. And it is not surprising that mobile betting towered above retail, accounting for over 97 percent of the total wagers in February.
More Money for the State
Governor Mike DeWine is already suggesting upping the tax on sportsbooks’ revenue which would see their 10% tax doubled to 20%.
Robert Linnehan, a sports betting analyst with XL Media, commented, “He (DeWine) sees that the Ohio sports betting market is maybe a little more robust than some of the bill makers thought it may be and they’re leaving a lot of revenue on the table.”
“This would put Ohio just a little bit over the national average of 19%, according to Forbes,” he said.
*Bookmakers Review will continue to monitor this story and provide updates to our readers as events unfold.
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