Gaming Expansion Bill, Facing Opposition From Ohio Casinos

• Ohio casino owners are pushing back on the state’s new gambling bill set to bring sports betting to the state.
• The bill includes a note that will allow slot machine-esque games to open in nearly 900 locations across the state, a natural detriment to casino business.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The battle for legal sports betting in the state of Ohio is receiving some major pushback from owners of the state’s many casinos.

The Ohio Senate is looking to pass State Bill 176 which would effectively allow sports betting locations to open up cross the state.

Buried deep in the bill is an auxiliary rule that would allow for “slot machine-like electronic gambling games” to open across nearly 900 locations in the state.

While electronic slot games of this kind are found commonly in other states as legal gambling options, they have previously never been allowed in the state of Ohio.

Now, owners of the 11 casinos and racinos located in Ohio are pushing back against this move. After all, if potential bettors can wager at any location, they will be less inclined to spend their money at the major casinos.

However, these are not just small private owners or Native American tribes, as seven of the state’s casinos are owned by JACK Entertainment, MGM Resorts, and Penn National Gaming.

Currently, there are set to be 40 sports betting licenses up for grabs through the new bill in Ohio. The casino owners have not commented on the sports betting side of the bill, only voicing concern over the electronic gaming issue.

Dan Reinhard, a representative of JACK Entertainment, is worried that these electronic gaming machines could evolve into something much worse.

“As you will see, there is nothing on the face of the cabinet or obvious from the screen that there is any difference between these machines. While technology will allow these machines to initially look much simpler, the manufacturers and distributors will undoubtedly seek to advance the machines over time,” said Reinhard in his submitted testimony to the Select Committee on Gaming.

The issue mainly stems from these legal betting venues looking to recoup their losses from the pandemic without any new competition.

In 2020, just four of Ohio’s casinos reported $452.6 million in slot revenue alone. This number could drop with so many new options set to open.