An NFL team, a leading US sportsbook and a potential sleeping giant applied for their Ohio sports betting licenses last week.
The Cincinnati Bengals became the first NFL team in Ohio to apply for a mobile proprietor license Friday. Partners were not disclosed on the Ohio Casino Control Commission‘s list.
Also applying Friday were FanDuel Sportsbook and Fanatics. Both applied for mobile and retail Ohio sports betting licenses.
Deadline coming to be live for Ohio start
Either the Ohio CCC will be busy processing applications this week or the demand to be live Jan. 1 is not as high as anticipated.
So far, just six mobile applications and four retail applications have been submitted by operators. JACK Entertainment‘s two casinos and the Hall of Fame Village are the only other mobile proprietor applicants, along with the Bengals.
Licensees do not have to apply by July 15, but hitting that deadline guarantees their temporary licenses will be ready on day one.
Who else applied for OH sports betting?
There are four other mobile and two retail operators that have applied so far in Ohio.
BetMGM and PointsBet applied for their mobile licenses in the first two days. DraftKings and Penn National‘s Barstool Sportsbook applied over the course of the next two weeks.
BetMGM also applied for its retail license the day the application window opened. JACK Entertainment’s betJACK applied to operate retail sports betting as well.
When will advertising in Ohio start?
Ohio bettors are about to be bombarded with signup offers, considering Ohio law allows customer recruitment before betting is live.
That flood of advertisements is probably not far away with the NFL season kicking off in two months.
Some operators are already live with signup promotions that decline in value the longer a bettor waits to sign up. JACK’s betJACK launched a free-to-play app that simulates a real sports betting experience while building up a database of potential bettors.
