Ohio Sports Betting Sites: Licensed Apps, Offers and the Rules

Ohio sports betting sites have been taking legal bets since January 1, 2023. The state now hosts more than a dozen licensed apps, from FanDuel and DraftKings to Hard Rock Bet and the locally licensed Betly. Every operator pays a 20% tax on revenue, bettors must be 21, and player props on college games have been off the menu since 2024.

We cover the short version of the law, the partner offers actually live in Ohio and the full licensed roster. Then come the rule changes that matter to anyone betting from Cleveland to Cincinnati.

Is Ohio sports betting legal? The state rules at a glance

Yes. House Bill 29 created Ohio’s sports gaming framework in late 2021. The Ohio Casino Control Commission switched on online and retail betting together on New Year’s Day 2023. The state did not legalize online casino games at the same time, and it still has not.

Category	Ohio status
Online sports betting	Legal, live since January 1, 2023
Online casino	Not legal
Sweepstakes casinos	No statewide ban; ban proposals stalled in 2025
Prediction markets	Contested; Sixth Circuit ruled for the state in September 2026
Regulator	Ohio Casino Control Commission
Minimum age	21
Operator tax	20% of sports gaming receipts

For a side-by-side look at the other nine states we cover, start at our US betting hub.

Best Ohio betting app offers live right now

Hard Rock Bet is live in Ohio through its partnership with Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati. The casino holds the license that Seminole Hard Rock Digital operates under. New customers can claim the welcome offer below without a promo code.

New customers, must be physically located in Ohio. 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

The app leans on Same Game Parlays, play-by-play markets and a weekly rewards system tied to Hard Rock’s Unity loyalty scheme. Our full Hard Rock Bet review covers payments and the app in more detail.

Horse racing: AmWager in Ohio

Advance deposit wagering is a separate license class, and AmWager’s terms list Ohio as an available state. There is one quirk. Ohio residents cannot bet through AmWager on races at Mahoning Valley or Thistledown, two of the state’s own tracks.

21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Sweepstakes casinos in Ohio

Ohio has no sweepstakes ban on the books. HB 298 would have banned sweepstakes sites alongside legalizing online casinos, but neither it nor the rival SB 197 made it to a vote. The four brands below do not list Ohio among their excluded states.

Sweepstakes casinos available in Ohio

RealPrize

Best for live dealer

Cash out from

100 SC

Gift card from

45 SC

Min age

18+

Play free at RealPrize

No purchase necessary · 18+/21+ Read review

NO

NoLimitCoins

Best for low gift-card minimum

Play free at NoLimitCoins

No purchase necessary · 18+/21+ Read review

Funrize

Best for tournaments

Get a 125,000 Coin Welcome Gift

Play free at Funrize

No purchase necessary · 18+/21+ Read review

FU

FunzCity

Best for daily bonuses

Play free at FunzCity

No purchase necessary · 18+/21+ Read review

No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. 18+ (21+ in some states). Sweepstakes coins are not real money gambling, and state access can change quickly. See our sweepstakes legal states tracker before you register.

Licensed Ohio sportsbooks: the full roster

Ohio ties every online sportsbook to a “Type A” proprietor, usually a casino, racino or pro sports team. The Ohio Casino Control Commission license list shows those pairings. Apps currently taking bets in the state include:

• bet365 (Cleveland Guardians)
• BetMGM (MGM Northfield Park)
• BetRivers (Hollywood Gaming Dayton Raceway)
• Bally Bet (Cleveland Browns)
• Betly (Miami Valley Gaming)
• Betr (Pro Football Hall of Fame Village)
• Caesars Sportsbook (Scioto Downs)
• DraftKings (Hollywood Casino Toledo)
• Fanatics Sportsbook (Columbus Blue Jackets)
• FanDuel (Belterra Park)
• Hard Rock Bet (Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati)
• Prime Sportsbook (SPIRE Institute)
• theScore Bet

That list has shrunk since launch. WynnBet, SuperBook and Tipico all held Ohio approvals and have since left. That is why a few pro teams on the commission’s paperwork no longer have a branded app attached.

Pro teams with a stake in the market

Ohio let its major franchises hold sportsbook licenses directly, so the license list reads like a sports almanac. The Guardians brought in bet365, the Blue Jackets partnered with Fanatics and the Browns with Bally Bet. The Bengals, the Crew and FC Cincinnati all appear on the commission’s paperwork too, even where the original app partner has since left the state.

For bettors, that history matters less than the practical upshot, which is competition. With more than a dozen apps chasing the same customers, Ohio is a good state to shop lines. Two books pricing the same NFL total half a point apart is common, and that half point adds up over a season.

What Ohio sportsbooks can and cannot offer

Ohio runs an approved-events model. Sportsbooks can only offer leagues and bet types the commission has signed off on. You will find the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, college sports, soccer, golf, tennis, MMA and motorsport, but little at the fringes.

• College: game lines, totals and futures are allowed. Player props are not.
• Live betting: allowed, including in-game player props on pro sports.
• Pitch-level bets: limited to $200 and no parlays at most major books under the national MLB agreement.
• Machine sports: drone racing, robot combat and autonomous racing need their own approval, and licensed Ohio apps rarely list them. Our US drone betting guide tracks where those markets do appear.

Winnings are taxable income. Sportsbooks issue a W-2G for larger wins. You are expected to report all gambling income on federal and state returns, whether or not you receive a form.

Ohio betting law changes worth knowing

College player props: banned since 2024

At the NCAA’s request, the commission approved a ban on player-specific college props on February 23, 2024. Sportsbooks had until March 1 to pull them. Team spreads, totals and moneylines on college games are untouched.

The micro-bet rule that never arrived

In August 2025 Governor Mike DeWine asked regulators to stop bets on single, player-controlled moments such as the first pitch. The commission started drafting a rule, then dropped it in November 2025. By then MLB had struck a national deal with major sportsbooks capping individual pitch bets at $200 and blocking them from parlays. That deal followed the indictment of two Cleveland Guardians pitchers in a betting case.

Tax: 20%, and holding

Ohio doubled its rate from 10% to 20% in 2023. DeWine’s 2025 budget proposal would have pushed it to 40%, but House Republicans stripped the increase out in March 2025. Federal changes also apply. From January 1, 2026, bettors can deduct only 90% of gambling losses against winnings.

Prediction markets in Ohio

Ohio sent cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi and Robinhood in March 2025. A federal district court later refused Kalshi’s request for an injunction. On September 25, 2026, the Sixth Circuit ruled unanimously that Ohio and Tennessee can apply their gambling laws to event contracts. That deepened a circuit split the Supreme Court may now resolve. Crypto.com has already removed sports contracts in Ohio. Our prediction market legal states guide tracks which apps still operate here. Trading event contracts involves risk of loss.

How to sign up with an Ohio sportsbook

1. Pick a licensed app from the list above and download it from the App Store or Google Play, or use the website.
2. Register with your legal name, date of birth, address and the last four digits of your Social Security number. Ohio operators must verify identity before you can withdraw.
3. Allow location services. Bets only go through when the geolocation check confirms you are inside Ohio.
4. Opt in to the welcome offer if the app requires it, then deposit. Debit cards, online banking, PayPal and Venmo are the usual options.
5. Set deposit and time limits in the account settings before your first bet.

If you build multi-leg tickets, run the numbers through our parlay calculator first. A Same Game Parlay’s price is rarely the simple product of its legs.

Responsible gambling help in Ohio

The Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline is free and confidential at 1-800-589-9966. The national line, 1-800-GAMBLER, also routes Ohio callers to local help. The state runs a voluntary exclusion program that covers casinos, racinos and sportsbooks. Every licensed app also offers deposit limits, cool-off periods and self-exclusion in its settings.