The tidal wave of Ohio sports betting applications finally washed ashore Friday with 22 businesses applying to launch mobile sportsbooks on Jan. 1.
Those applications belonged to the Type-A proprietors, the license holders for the more than 40 Ohio online sportsbooks.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission‘s list is dated at 5 pm Eastern Friday night. Applicants had until 11:59 pm Friday night to apply and be guaranteed a spot on the starting line.
Who are Ohio sports betting applicants?
All of Ohio’s professional sports teams and the approved PGA Tour stop applied with all but two retail licenses spoken for:
| Sports team | Mobile Partner | Retail Partner |
|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | Bally Bet | Bally Bet |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Fubo | Caesars |
| Cleveland Guardians | bet365 | Fanatics |
| Cincinnati Bengals | Betfred | N/A |
| Cincinnati Reds | Underdog Sports | BetMGM |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Fanatics | Fanatics |
| Columbus Crew | Tipico | N/A |
| FC Cincinnati | SuperBook | SuperBook |
| Muirfield Village Golf Club | Parx | Parx |
NASCAR stop Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is the only professional sports team or organization missing from the list. The Hall of Fame Village also confirmed it is launching with Instabet as its first-skin partner. BetRivers is only listed as a retail partner.
All of Ohio’s casinos, racinos applied
None of Ohio’s four casinos or seven racinos wanted to be left out of the market launch in January.
| Casinos | Mobile Partner | Retail Partner |
|---|---|---|
| Belterra Park | N/A | N/A |
| Hard Rock Cincinnati | Hard Rock | Hard Rock |
| Hollywood Columbus | Barstool | Barstool |
| Hollywood Dayton | N/A | Barstool |
| Hollywood Mahoning Valley | PointsBet | Barstool |
| Hollywood Toledo | DraftKings | Barstool |
| JACK Cleveland | PlayUp | betJACK |
| JACK Thistledown | N/A | betJACK |
| MGM Northfield Park | BetMGM | BetMGM |
| Miami Valley | N/A | N/A |
| Scioto Downs | Caesars | Caesars |
Naturally, Penn Interactive‘s Barstool Sportsbook will run Penn National’s four retail books. PointsBet, DraftKings and a third unknown first-skin operator will utilize Penn’s other first-skin licenses.
Neither Belterra Park nor Miami Valley listed mobile or retail partnerships, but their two partners are likely the two mobile operator applicants listed without partners: FanDuel and Gamewise.
FanDuel and Belterra owner Boyd Gaming signed a market access agreement in August 2018. Gamewise is the joint venture between Delaware North and GAMING1 that operates the Betly brand.
Other Ohio sports betting applicants
Only one other company applied for a mobile proprietor license: SPIRE Institute, a multi-sport training and competition facility. The company partnered with Out The Gate Inc for both mobile and retail betting.
Ravencrest Partners and self-proclaimed leading retailer of consumer fireworks in the US Phantom Fireworks and also applied for retail proprietor licenses but had no partners listed.
Two well-known US sports betting operators picked up smaller partners as well. PointsBet partnered with local restaurant chain Harry Buffalo while BetMGM partnered with Cedar Downs OTB.
More Type-C competition
There are three other Type-C applicants that want to compete with Elys for Lottery-licensed partners:
- Green Bear Gaming
- Intralot
- Skybox Sports Network
Second application window now open
Friday also marked the opening of the second application window for companies that want to launch on day one.
This window through Aug. 15 is for second-skin mobile operators and those Lottery-licensed locations that want to offer sports betting through kiosks.
