Is Sports Betting Legal in Ohio? Yes, at a 20% Tax (2026)

✓ Last verified: 2026-08-01

Yes. Sports betting is legal in Ohio, online and in person, for anyone 21 or older. Both mobile and retail betting went live on the same day, January 1, 2023, and today about a dozen apps compete under the Ohio Casino Control Commission. Ohio is now one of the four or five biggest betting markets in the country. Two things make it distinctive: a tax rate that doubled within six months of launch, and the fact that Ohio is the state leading the national fight to shut prediction markets like Kalshi out of sports.

If you are physically in Ohio and 21+, you can bet in minutes. Here is everything that actually matters.

Quick facts

	Ohio status (July 2026)
Online (mobile) betting	✅ Legal since January 1, 2023
Retail sportsbooks	✅ Legal (same-day launch)
Minimum age	21+
Tax rate	20% (doubled from 10% on July 1, 2023)
Live mobile sportsbooks	About 13
College team betting	✅ Allowed, including Ohio State
College player props	❌ Banned statewide
Online casino / iGaming	❌ Not legal
Prediction markets (Kalshi)	⚠️ Ohio is fighting them in court, and winning
Regulator	Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC)

How Ohio got here

Ohio legalized sports betting through House Bill 29 (HB 29), which Governor Mike DeWine signed on December 22, 2021. Rather than let operators trickle in, the Ohio Casino Control Commission set a universal start date, so online and retail betting all went live at once on January 1, 2023, one of the largest single-day launches any state has staged.

The law built a three-tier license system: Type A for mobile/online books (up to 25 licenses, two apps each), Type B for retail sportsbooks at casinos and racinos, and Type C for self-service kiosks in bars and restaurants. The kiosk tier has thinned out since the main vendor behind it wound down in 2025, but the online tier is where nearly all the action is: about 98% of Ohio’s handle is placed on phones.

The tax story: doubled in six months

Ohio launched at a 10% tax on sports gaming receipts. Six months later it was 20%. The state doubled the rate effective July 1, 2023 through the HB 33 budget, one of the fastest tax hikes any new market has seen.

It nearly doubled again. In his 2025 budget, Governor DeWine proposed taking the rate to 40% (partly to help fund a new Cleveland Browns stadium), but Republican lawmakers stripped the increase out before the budget was signed. So the rate held at 20% and was still 20% as of July 2026, though it stays a live target: a 2025 bill would layer an extra fee on every wager on top of it, rather than raise the rate itself. One change is already law and works the other way: from January 1, 2027 operators may deduct 10% of their promotional credits before tax, rising to 20% from January 1, 2032, so the effective rate falls while the headline rate does not move. As everywhere, a higher tax means operators keep less and promotions run leaner than in low-tax states.

Who you can bet with

Ohio has about 13 live mobile sportsbooks (some trackers say 14 or 15 depending on how they count skins). The roster:

FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, bet365, Caesars, Fanatics, BetRivers, Hard Rock Bet, theScore Bet, Bally Bet, Ember (rebranded from MVG Bet on July 1, 2026), betJACK, and Prime Sports.

FanDuel and DraftKings lead by a wide margin, followed by BetMGM, bet365, and Caesars. Three of the names are Ohio-local skins: betJACK (from JACK Casino Cleveland), Ember (Miami Valley Gaming), and Prime Sports. As elsewhere, the field has consolidated: ESPN BET became theScore Bet on December 1, 2025, MVG Bet became Ember on July 1, 2026 when Delaware North folded its brands together, and Betfred, Tipico, and Betway have all exited Ohio. If a list still names those dead brands, it is out of date. You must be 21+ and physically inside Ohio, confirmed by geolocation, to bet.

The college rule

Ohio’s college rule catches people out, and it is stricter than its neighbors on one point.

✅ You can bet on college teams, including in-state programs like Ohio State and Cincinnati. There is no in-state-team carve-out for team bets (spreads, moneylines, totals, futures).
❌ You cannot bet college player props. Ohio banned wagers on an individual college athlete’s stats statewide, adopting the rule at the NCAA’s request with a compliance deadline of March 1, 2024. It covers any college athlete and awards like the Heisman. Regulators enforce it: the OCCC fined DraftKings $425,000, partly for accepting prohibited college props. Ohio sits with Louisiana, Maryland, and Vermont in the college-prop-ban group.

What is NOT legal in Ohio

Online casino (iGaming) is not legal in Ohio. Only sports betting is authorized. Bills to legalize online slots and table games have been floated, but none has been signed, which puts Ohio behind neighbors like Pennsylvania and Michigan that run both. Daily fantasy sports is legal and regulated separately. Offshore books (Bovada and the like) are illegal and unregulated: no Ohio agency can help if a payout stalls, and with a dozen legal apps there is no reason to use them.

Prediction markets: Ohio is the state beating Kalshi in court

This is where Ohio is nationally important. While some states merely sent warning letters, Ohio took prediction markets to court and has been winning.

March 2025: the OCCC sent cease-and-desist orders to Kalshi and other prediction-market platforms, calling them unlicensed sports betting.
October 2025: Kalshi sued the OCCC and Attorney General Dave Yost in federal court.
March 2026: a federal judge denied Kalshi’s request to block Ohio, ruling its sports-event contracts function as sports betting subject to state law.
April 24, 2026: the Sixth Circuit refused Kalshi’s emergency injunction, finding the harm to Ohio outweighed Kalshi’s, and fast-tracked the appeal. That cleared the OCCC to pursue a proposed $5 million fine, which Kalshi is separately suing to block.

That puts Ohio at the opposite pole from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where the Third Circuit sided with Kalshi in April 2026. Be careful how you read that contrast, because most coverage overstates it. The Third Circuit is so far the only federal appeals court to rule on whether federal commodities law overrides state gambling law, and it ruled at the preliminary-injunction stage, holding only that Kalshi had a “reasonable chance” of winning. The Sixth Circuit has not decided anything: its April 24 order came from a motions panel, which called the issues “close” and expedited the case rather than resolving it. So the honest description today is an asymmetry, not a split between appeals courts.

The freshness hook: the Sixth Circuit heard oral argument on July 30, 2026 in two consolidated cases, Ohio’s and Tennessee’s, where a federal judge granted Kalshi the injunction Ohio was denied. One panel, two opposite trial-court results, before Judges Clay, Gibbons and Bloomekatz. An argument date is not a decision date: no ruling had issued as of July 31, 2026, and one can take weeks or months. Practically, Kalshi still functions for Ohioans today, but Ohio is actively trying to end that and winning the early rounds.

The honest 2026 outlook

Ohio’s market is large and growing, on pace for record revenue in 2026. The live questions are political, not existential:

HB 971, the “Save Ohio Sports Act,” introduced in July 2026, would go the other way and ban online sports betting and college wagering entirely. It is an early-stage proposal, not law, but worth watching.
The 20% tax stays a target, pushed both up and down by competing bills.
The Kalshi appeal in the Sixth Circuit, argued July 30, 2026, is the single biggest thing to watch.

For a bettor today, the picture is simple: legal, deep, 21-and-up, inside state lines, with the college-prop ban as the main rule to remember.

FAQ

What sportsbook apps are legal in Ohio? About 13, led by FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, bet365, and Caesars. Anything else taking Ohio bets is offshore and unregulated.

Can I bet on Ohio State? Yes, on team markets (spread, moneyline, total, futures). You cannot bet player props on individual college athletes, which are banned statewide.

Why is the tax so high? Ohio doubled its rate from 10% to 20% in July 2023, and a push to take it to 40% failed in 2025. Higher tax means thinner promotions than low-tax states.

Is online casino legal in Ohio? No. Only sports betting is legal. Internet slots, table games, and poker for real money remain illegal.

Is Kalshi legal in Ohio? It still operates, but Ohio is the state most aggressively fighting it, and courts have so far sided with Ohio. Treat prediction markets as contested here, not settled.

How big is Ohio’s betting market? Very. Ohio is a top-four or top-five US state by handle, with Ohioans wagering on the order of $700 million-plus a month and the market on pace for record revenue in 2026. Nearly all of it, about 98%, is placed on the apps rather than in person.

Do I have to live in Ohio to bet? No, only be physically present. Geolocation checks your location on every wager, so a visitor can bet the same as a resident while inside the state, and an Ohioan cannot bet from across the line.