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Ohio has its first online casino bill, though it’s unlikely to get much legislative attention this year.
Sen. Niraj Antani filed a bill Wednesday seeking to legalize Ohio online casino. The legislation allows Ohio’s 11 casinos and racinos each to offer one online casino app.
Facing term limits, Antani is entering his final months in office. He explained to PlayUSA why he wanted to file an Ohio iCasino bill before he leaves.
“I really do think this is a long way off from truly getting legalized in Ohio, but I think it’s time we start the process,” Antani said. “We’ve been talking about starting the process for over a year now. Someone has to kickstart it and I think it’s time to go.”
The Ohio legislature will return for a short lame-duck session after the November elections. Sen. Nathan Manning, co-chair of the Ohio Sports Gaming Study Committee, told PlayUSA he doesn’t expect an online casino bill to get so much as a hearing at that time.
“It’s a little late in this General Assembly. Certainly, I’m interested to take a look at the language. But I can’t imagine it would move this late in the session. We’ll see what happens next term.”
Antani agreed, saying that as much as he would like to pass the bill this year, getting a hearing or committee vote would be optimistic. His goal is to get more legislators talking about the issue.
“This is about what I call socializing the concept,” Antani said. “Some legislators have never thought about iGaming before. They haven’t necessarily had a reason to think about it. So this will hopefully spark some thoughtful consideration.”
Details of first Ohio online casino legislation
Here are the key details of SB312:
- Establishes the Ohio Casino Control Commission as regulator of online casino gaming.
- Allows licensed casino operators in the state to obtain an internet casino gaming permit.
- Online operators may obtain an internet casino gaming associate permit to operate internet casino gaming on behalf of a licensed casino operator.
- For permits and associate permits, sets an initial fee of at least $300,000, renewable annually for $250,000, at the commission’s discretion.
- Sets a nonrefundable initial application fee of at least $100,000, also at the commission’s discretion.
- Requires each internet casino gaming permit holder to pay $250,000 annually to the problem casino gambling and addictions fund.
- Taxes Ohio online casino gaming at a 15% rate for both online slots and table games.
- Limits internet gaming marketing affiliate licenses to five. Marketing affiliates pay $25,000 for a three-year license with a $10,000 initial application fee.
“We know from other states and from our sports betting experience that this can be done in the sunshine in a regulated way, and it can provide another entertainment option for Ohioans,” Antani said. “You shouldn’t have to go to a big city to play casino games if you’re in rural or even suburban Ohio.”
Antani said he kept the legislation simple knowing there will be many more iterations.
“Our goal was to keep this pretty simple understanding that sports betting took three years to get into law. This also will likely take multiple general assemblies.”
Movement unlikely in lame-duck session
In 2021, Antani was a key member of the Select Committee on Gaming and sponsored the Ohio sports betting legislation that became law.
However, as an outgoing senator, he lacks the influence to generate movement for Ohio online casino legislation this year.
Antani ran for election in the US House to represent Ohio’s second congressional district. He lost in the Republican primary in March.
Coming out of an Ohio future on gaming study committee this year, nobody had committed to filing the first iGaming bill. The biggest supporter in the Ohio House, Rep. Jay Edwards, also is facing term limits.
Antani is proud to have started the Ohio iGaming conversation. He references former Ohio Rep. Dave Greenspan and Sen. John Eklund, who introduced the first Ohio sports betting bills.
“They didn’t have their names on the final bill, but I think they deserve significant credit for moving the ball down the field. They got the ball down into the red zone, and it wouldn’t have gotten there without them. That’s how I think it will work for this.”
