Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has said before that he regrets legalizing sports betting, but he told Cleveland.com‘s editorial board just how much.
“People have asked me, ‘What mistakes did you make?’ And I’ll lead with signing a bill for sports gaming,” DeWine said Wednesday. “It’s a huge problem among young males up to 45,” he added. “It’s a huge problem. And we have many of them addicted, many of them spending money that they do not have.”
DeWine is in the final year of his second consecutive term as governor and cannot serve a third.
DeWine unhappy with advertising pace
The governor’s biggest gripe with the sports betting industry is not a new one.
“Frankly, when I signed the bill – I should’ve have, my fault, I take the blame – I didn’t count on the massive amount of advertising that these companies would do, first to get people to sign up for their app and to continue on,” DeWine said.
DeWine signed the bill legalizing online sports betting in 2021 and the market went live in January 2023. By then, most of the operators in the industry were shifting marketing efforts from state-based local campaigns to national campaigns.
Ohio regulations did not allow the use of terms like “free” or “risk-free” when talking about betting bonuses that required customers to deposit their own money. The Ohio Casino Control Commission fined multiple operators for such violations in the early days of the market and eventually the industry dropped those phrases.
Ohio sports betting involved in scandals
Part of DeWine’s regret may stem from a number of sports betting scandals involving teams and bettors in the state of Ohio.
He worked with Major League Baseball to lower limits on in-game pitching props after two Cleveland Guardians pitchers were indicted for allegedly rigging some pitches. But he told the Associated Press in November he wished he didn’t have to do that work:
“Look, we’ve always had gambling, we’re always going to have gambling,” DeWine said. “But just the power of these companies and the deep, deep, deep pockets they have to advertise and do everything they can to get someone to place that bet is really different once you have legalization of them. … Ohio shouldn’t have done it.”
