Best Ohio sports betting sites available in September 2023


Rank
Sportsbook
Bonus
Freatures
Play
1
BET $1
GET $365
In Bonus Bets at bet365
Top Features
Deposit required. Bonus Bet wager excluded from returns. T&Cs, time limits and exclusions apply 
OH only. 21+.Gambling Problem? Call or text 1-800-GAMBLER
Use Bonus Code: LSROH
New Users Get $365 Bonus at Bet365
2
$1,000 FIRST BET
On Caesars
Top Features
Up to $1,000 Back as a Bonus Bet if Your Bet Loses
Stream NFL Games In-App for Free
OH only. 21+. Gambling Problem? Call or text 1-800-GAMBLER
Use Promo Code: LSR1000
Get Up to $1,000 at Caesars Sportsbook
3
UP TO $1,500
In Bonus Bets
Top Features
$1,500 Paid Back in Bonus Bets
Free Live Streaming – Watch Live Games 
21+ and present in OH. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER
Use Bonus Code: PLAYLSR
BetMGM is Now Live in Ohio!
4
$100 BONUS
2nd Chance Bet Credit
Top Features
2nd Chance Bet up to $100
ONLY 1x Play Through!
21+ and present in OH. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER
Use Exclusive Affiliate Code: LSRRIV
BetRivers is Now Live in Ohio!
5
GET UP TO $1,111
In Fred Bets
Top Features
Bet $50 Get $111
Get $200 a Week for 5 Weeks
Daily Odds Boosts
OH only. 21+.Gambling Problem? Call or text 1-800-GAMBLER
Use Promo Code: LSRBONUS
Get Up to $1,111 in Fred Bets at Betfred Sportsbook!
6
BET $20
GET $40
Bonus Bet with First Wager
Top Features
Bet $20, Get a $40 Bonus Bet on First Wager
Get Betway Boosts & Enhanced Odds
OH only. 21+. Gambling Problem? Call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.  
To Claim: Click Play Now
Claim your $40 Bonus Bet at Betway Sportsbook!

21+ and present in OH. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER

Is sports betting legal in Ohio?

Yes, Ohio sports betting is legal and available for play in the state. A number of online sportsbook apps and physical sports betting locations went live on Jan. 1, 2023. The Ohio sports betting law, HB 29, passed both chambers of the Ohio Legislature in December 2021. Gov. Mike DeWine then signed it into law.

What’s happening in Ohio sports betting right now

Comparing the top Ohio sports betting sites

Ohio has allotted 25 slots for online sports betting apps. Many sportsbooks launched when the state went live on Jan. 1, 2023, but more continued to trickle in over the following months. There are now plenty of options for Ohio bettors, but each app comes with its own pros and cons. Ultimately, what works best for you will come down to personal preference and the way you like to bet. Here’s a quick look at some of the top sportsbooks in Ohio in several key categories:

1. Bet365 Sportsbook

An international sportsbook now available in Ohio’s legal market, Bet365 sportsbook is best known for its selection of live wagers from across the world and offering some obscure sports as well as some options to edit bets. The online book landed an exclusive deal with the MLB’s Cleveland Guardians.

2. Caesars Sportsbook

Caesars Sportsbook in Ohio is live in the state, representing the hotel and casino company of the same name. The company’s massive portfolio includes Ohio’s Eldorado Gaming Scioto Downs. In addition, Caesars has a retail partnership with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. Caesars also recently debuted a horse betting app in Ohio. The Caesars app is basic in design with few innovative features, but it comes with a slew of options for bettors.

3. BetMGM Sportsbook

BetMGM Sportsbook is live and available for betting in Ohio. Representing MGM Resorts, MGM already has a presence in Ohio through its ownership of the MGM Northfield Park. Its “Edit My Bet” feature allow users to change a bet after submitting it. BetMGM is also a popular option for unique betting markets such as table tennis and snooker, but the navigation on the app can be clunky.

4. BetRivers Sportsbook

BetRivers is another sportsbook that has been expanding its national footprint. In Ohio, it has partnered with the Hollywood Casino Columbus. BetRivers Sportsbook stands out with one of the best rewards programs in the industry and offers a good variety of sports and betting options, but there have been mixed reviews on the platform’s overall performance.

5. Betfred Sportsbook

Nearly a dozen states now have Betfred Sportsbook available, including Ohio. The welcome bonus is one of the largest remaining in the betting industry. Either on desktop or mobile, the sportsbook is easy to navigate but is fairly generic. There’s a number of sports to place wagers on, but the betting market in general is limited compared to the competition.

6. Betway Sportsbook

A big player in Europe’s sports betting scene, Betway is growing in popularity in North America and offering bonuses for new users in Ohio. The app is known for its deep menu of available markets and its intuitive design. This is not the flashiest app, and it could use some more interesting features, but it is easy to navigate and use.

    Full list of Ohio sports betting sites

    There are 20 live sports betting apps available in Ohio as of September 2023, and the list is constantly changing. Here is a summary of the application status and partnerships for the legal online sportsbooks in Ohio:

    Online sportsbookOhio partnerApplication status
    Bally BetCleveland BrownsLaunched
    Barstool Hollywood Casino ColumbusLaunched
    Bet365Cleveland GuardiansLaunched
    Betfred Cincinnati BengalsLaunched
    BetJACKJACK CasinosLaunched
    MVGBet (Betly)Miami Valley Gaming & RacingLaunched
    BetMGM MGM Northfield ParkLaunched
    BetPARXMuirfield Village Golf CourseLaunched
    BetrPro Football Hall of Fame VillageLaunched
    BetRivers Hollywood Casino DaytonLaunched
    BetwayBelterra ParkLaunched
    Caesars Scioto DownsLaunched
    DraftKingsHollywood Casino ToledoLaunched
    FanaticsColumbus Blue JacketsLaunched
    FanDuelBelterra ParkLaunched
    Hard Rock BetHard Rock Casino CincinnatiLaunched
    PointsBetHollywood Gaming at Mahoning ValleyLaunched
    Prime SportsbookSpire InstituteLaunched
    SuperBookFC CincinnatiLaunched
    TipicoColumbus CrewLaunched
    UnderdogCincinnati RedsConditional approval

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    DISCLAIMER

    Legal Sports Report does not promote or endorse any form of wagering or gambling to users under the age of 21. This site encourages responsible gambling and provides advice for anyone who believes they, or someone they know, may have a gambling addiction.

    How to sign up at an Ohio sportsbook

    No matter the sportsbook app you ultimately choose to use in Ohio, the procedure for getting started is going to be remarkably similar and fairly quick. In fact, signing up goes through the same steps everywhere. Here’s what to do:

    1. Download and install the app on your mobile device.
    2. Register for an account.
    3. Fund your account.
    4. Make your first wager.

    Bonuses and promotions definitions

    With Ohio online sports betting live, bettors can take advantage of bonuses and top sportsbook promos. Although the offers will always change, they typically fall into one of the categories listed below, and it’s helpful to know how to recognize the offers and what they mean for you.

    As mentioned, some of these offers will yield site credits or bet vouchers that require you to play before you can withdraw the funds. This requirement is called a playthrough or wagering requirement. It is a multiple of the amount of bonus dollars you receive. Make sure to read through the terms and conditions of any bonus offer before you accept the promotion.

    Latest Ohio sports betting news

    Ohio sports betting law

    Ohio is a legal sports betting state after the passage of HB 29.

    The language of the law creates the potential for dozens of sportsbooks to set up shop in Ohio. There are several different types of sports betting licenses that companies may pursue, and Ohioans are soon to see legal options pop up close to them, wherever they might be. Here’s the structure for the licenses that companies can pursue:

    Online sportsbook operators that partnered with Type A licensees must apply for a mobile management services provider license in order to be eligible for such a partnership.

    Other legal betting options in Ohio

    Aside from betting on horse racing and sports betting, Ohio is also home to a robust list of casinos and racinos.

    With the advent of legal betting sites in Ohio, it is important to bet only on regulated sportsbooks. There are illegal offshore sports betting apps that accept bets from people in Ohio. Without holding a license from any US jurisdiction, these offshore websites can’t be counted on to pay out winnings.

    The only safe and protected way to bet on sports in the US is to do so with a licensed operator. Ohio is now home to several of those.

    Most popular sports to bet on in Ohio

    Championships might be few and far between, but Ohio has a long history in professional sports and at least one team in every major league. Fandom in the state is divided between Cincinnati in the southwest and Cleveland in the northeast.

    NFL betting in Ohio

    The Cleveland Browns played in the league championship game their first 10 years in existence. Yet, the Browns have never won a Super Bowl, which started in 1967.

    The last of their four NFL championships was in 1964. Worse, what was previously the Cleveland Browns won two Super Bowls after moving to Baltimore and becoming the Ravens in 1995. The Cleveland Browns started anew in 1999 and have only made the playoffs once since. Despite the struggles, the Dawg Pound remains rabid.

    If it makes Browns’ fans feel any better, the cross-state Cincinnati Bengals have never won a Super Bowl — though they did appear in one in 2022. The Bengals were the worst team in the league in 2019, landing the top pick in the draft and reason to be optimistic about the future with Heisman-winning QB Joe Burrow at the helm.

    NBA betting in Ohio

    LeBron James put his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers on the map, winning them the NBA title in 2016. Since King James left, the Cavaliers have been a team in transition, slowly building the team back to contender status.

    MLB betting in Ohio

    There’s more than 200 years of combined Major League Baseball history in Ohio, which could be considered the birthplace of professional baseball. The Cincinnati Red Stockings became baseball’s first all-professional team in 1869, a year in which they went a perfect 57-0.

    A Cincinnati Reds team was a charter member of the National League in 1876. However, that team was kicked out of the league four years later for refusing to agree not to sell beer at games. The modern Cincinnati Reds were formed in 1881 and have won five World Series titles, the latest in 1990.

    Fans of the Cleveland Guardians don’t feel the least bit bad for their cross-state counterparts. The Guardians (formerly the Indians) haven’t won a World Series in 72 years. They flirted with breaking the streak over the last few seasons, winning the AL Central four times from 2016-2022 including a World Series appearance in 2016.

    NHL betting in Ohio

    Columbus technically has the largest population of any city in Ohio, but the only major professional team it has is the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL. The newcomer to Ohio professional sports, founded in 2000, has yet to kiss the Stanley Cup but did finally win its first playoff series in 2019.

    NCAA betting in Ohio

    While fandom around the state is divided into regions in the professional sports, most of Ohio can come together to root for Ohio State in NCAA football. One of the most prestigious programs in the country, the Buckeyes have won eight national championships since their founding in 1890, including taking the first College Football Playoff National Championship in 2014.

    The Cincinnati Bearcats also have made some noise in football of late, appearing in the 2021 Cotton Bowl vs Alabama (one of the two CFP semifinal games) and finishing with nine or more wins in five straight seasons.

    The state of Ohio hasn’t had as much success in NCAA basketball. The Buckeyes do have 11 Final Four appearances and an NCAA Tournament Title back in 1960. And the Bearcats have an active streak of nine consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

    Not to be outdone, the Xavier Musketeers make the tournament pretty much every year, though they have yet to make a Final Four. The Dayton Flyers and Miami Redhawks play occasional Cinderella come March Madness.

    Sports betting in nearby states

    Ohio and Daily Fantasy Sports

    Ohio legalized daily fantasy sports in 2018. The industry-friendly law set a $10,000 maximum annual licensing fee and installed no tax on operators.

    Interestingly given the Ohio sports betting debate, the Ohio Casino Control Commission was granted oversight of DFS.

    With the legal clarification, major DFS sites such as DraftKingsFanDuelYahoo and Fantasy Draft operated in Ohio.

    Ohio sports betting timeline

    2023

    Legal online sports betting officially launched in Ohio on January 1 at the stroke of midnight. Several online sportsbooks including DraftKings and FanDuel began taking bets in the state.

    Ohio sports betting handle was a whopping $1.11 billion in January, the state’s first full month in operation. $1.09 billion of that total came via online sports betting. Revenue was $208.9 million, a single-month record for any state. 

    New legislation passed in the state increased the tax on Ohio sports betting operators to 20% of their revenue, up from the original 10%.

    PENN Entertainment sold Barstool Sports back to founder Dave Portnoy, and plans to rebrand Barstool Sportsbook as ESPN Bet in the fall.

    2022

    In the wake of DeWine’s signature on HB 29, the Ohio Casino Control Commission spends the first half of 2022 preparing its rules for administering sports betting in the Buckeye State. It releases several different sets of rules for public comment and adjusts the language in the proposals according to feedback from stakeholders. In addition, the licensing applications are subject to the same type of public comment.

    In early May, the OCCC announces that it will accept license applications for most types of sports betting licenses during a month-long window in June 2022 and July 2022. The remaining licenses will gain access to the process in their own window, a month-long opportunity immediately following the first window and stretching into August 2022.

    The commission confirms on the first day of June that sports betting will begin in Ohio on Jan. 1, 2023, as previously suggested. Two weeks later, the OCCC begins to receive the first of the sports betting license applications. The first companies to apply for licensure are BetMGM and PointsBet, but they are quickly joined by other interested parties. The Cincinnati Bengals become the first Ohio sports franchise to apply for its own license in July 2022. On Aug. 3, OCCC Executive Director Matt Schuler said sportsbooks can accept bets at midnight on January 1.

    2021

    With new legislators, like State Sen. Kirk Schuring, taking up the cause of passing an OH sports betting bill, the process essentially started over again in Ohio.

    Schuring introduced his own sports betting bill, SB 176, in May 2021. The bill passed through the Senate after about a month of discussion, but its momentum stalled when it reached the House.

    Schuring realized that the chance of a hearing for SB 176 in the House before the summer 2021 recess was very low, so he took the guts of the bill and grafted them onto an unrelated measure, HB 29, that had a better opportunity to move forward.

    After several months of debate, HB 29 passed through the House and Senate with several amendments in place to allow sports betting. Although several of the particulars of the bill changed from Schuring’s initial vision, the basic shape of SB 176 was signed by DeWine in late December.

    2020

    After multiple delays, the House Finance Committee finally advanced an Ohio sports betting bill on its ninth hearing. The House promptly passed the bill a day later, prior to its summer recess.

    Rep. Dave Greenspan said that he planned to reach out to Senate sponsor Sen. John Eklund to discuss the differences between their bills over the summer with the hope of coming into the fall session in September ready to pass the legislation.

    In addition to oversight, the key differences between the bills are the tax rate (House 10%, Senate 6.25%), that the House bill allows veterans’ and fraternal organizations to have sports betting while the Senate bill limits it to state casinos and racinos, and that all proceeds from sports betting go to education in the House version while the Senate places the revenue in the general fund.

    Unfortunately, neither bill nor the legislative terms of Greenspan and Eklund survived beyond the 2020 legislative session. The two lame duck lawmakers attempted to pass the bill through the Senate in the waning days after the November 2020 election, but could not get enough votes together.

    2019

    Eklund and Greenspan introduced their bills, then spent most of the year arguing in the press on the merits of each regulator and building a coalition of support.

    H 194 got support from the Legislative Service Commission and key Sen. William Coley, who served as president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States. But S 111 got most important supporter of all in Gov. Mike DeWine, the guy who needs to sign off on the legislation.

    The House Finance Committee held eight hearings on the bill. The only real conclusion was that the bill would not include an official league data mandate. The Senate held one hearing, content to wait until the House bill comes over.

    Ohio sports betting FAQ

    Who oversees legal sports betting in Ohio?

    The Ohio Casino Control Commission oversees all gambling in the state and as such will also manage and regulate the incoming legal sports betting market.

    Does Ohio allow mobile sports betting?

    Yes. The 2021 law calls for legal online sports betting with remote registration. Online sports betting in Ohio began on Jan. 1, 2023.

    Who can bet on sports in Ohio?

    Anyone over the age of 21 and inside Ohio may place a wager on sports. You may need to furnish proof of your age during the registration process. Additionally, you will need to verify your location within the state lines through each app’s geolocation software.

    Where can I bet on sports in Ohio?

    You can bet on sports at any of several online sportsbooks that launched on Jan. 1. In addition, all of Ohio’s casinos, racinos, racetracks and major sports arenas are either planning to offer onsite sports betting or are eligible to do so. The short answer is that you can bet on sports throughout Ohio and have many options for doing so.

    Can I bet on college sports in Ohio?

    Yes. Whether you plan to bet on the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Cincinnati Bearcats, or one of the other major college teams in the Buckeye State, you are be able to do so at all sportsbooks in Ohio.

    Is horse racing legal in Ohio?

    Yes, horse betting is legal in Ohio. The Ohio State Racing Commission launched in 1933 after the legislature approved pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing. Horses race throughout the year in Ohio, with thoroughbred racing at tracks in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Youngstown. Quarter horse races and harness racing also takes place in Ohio. Seven of the 11 casinos in Ohio are racinos on the site of tracks with live horse racing.

    Online horse betting is available in Ohio through sites such as TVG, TwinSpires, BetAmerica and, most recently, Caesars Racebook.

    There are some sports betting websites that say they accept bets from the United States. Are those legal options?

    No. Any website that says it takes wagers from anywhere in the United States is operating illegally. These sites offer no protection to people who bet with them. All US sportsbooks are licensed at the state level.