Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine Signed A Law Legalizing Sports Betting. He

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - If Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine might reverse time, he would not have actually signed the law that legislated sports wagering in his state.


With 2 Cleveland Guardians pitchers and an Ohio-born guard for the Miami Heat snared in different betting-related criminal probes, the second-term Republican says he now "definitely" is sorry for releasing this unchecked brand-new market on Ohioans with his 2021 signature.


"Look, we ´ ve constantly had betting, we ´ re always going to have gambling," DeWine told The Associated Press last week. "But just the power of these companies and the deep, deep, deep pockets they have to advertise and do whatever they can to get someone to place that bet is really various once you have legalization of them."


His remarks reflect a reckoning that's unfolding throughout sports and politics as sports wagering becomes more deep-rooted throughout much of the U.S. The wave of legalization in current years unleashed an enormous industry centered around wagering and, more recently, a wave of examinations and arrests tied to claims of rigged video games. It's a dynamic that DeWine states he does not believe legislators fully expected.


"Ohio should not have actually done it," he stated.


DeWine recently became an essential gamer in the settlements in between Major League Baseball and its licensed video gaming operators that resulted in the capping of prop bets on individual pitches at $200 and excluding them from parlays. The deal was revealed earlier this month, a day after Guardians pitchers Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase were arraigned and accused of rigging pitches at the request of gamblers. Both have pleaded not guilty.


FILE - Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman, right, talks to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, left, during "Marty Brennaman Day" prior to a baseball video game between the New York Mets and the Cincinnati Reds, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)


"Gov. DeWine truly did a substantial service, I think - to us, definitely, I can ´ t promote any of the other sports - in regards to sort of advancing the need to do something in this area," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred informed reporters last week.


And DeWine doesn't plan to stop there. Shortly after Ortiz and Clase were first positioned on paid leave this summertime, he revealed he 'd be asking the commissioners and gamers' unions of all the significant U.S. sports leagues to prohibit prop bets - often called micro-betting - like those linked in the Guardians scandal. While that goal has not yet been achieved - micro-betting is important to business strategy in an industry with over $11 billion in profits in the U.S. this year - DeWine said limitations put in place for baseball are an excellent first action.


"It requires to be holistic, it requires to be universal," he told the AP. "They ´ re simply playing with fire. I indicate, they are just requesting more and more trouble, their failure to resolve this."


DeWine's recent beliefs mark a significant position shift after he promised to - and after that did - sign a legalization law that was sweeping in scope. The legislation permitted adults 21 and older to put sports bets online, at casinos, at racinos and at stand-alone wagering kiosks in bars, restaurants and expert sports facilities. Wagering was permitted under the bill on expert sports teams, automobile racing, Olympic occasions, golf, tennis and even major college sports, consisting of Ohio State football.


It was clear in the run-up to DeWine ´ s re-election in 2022 that the gaming industry was extremely thinking about what was taking place in the state.


An AP investigation that year found that gambling establishment operators, slots makers, video gaming technology business, sports interests or their lobbyists contributed nearly $1 million in 2021 and 2022 to the nonprofit Republican Governors Association, which supported pro-DeWine committees through its campaign arm. Entities and individuals with ties to the industry likewise contributed more than $22,000 directly to DeWine's campaign, according to campaign financing reports.


A review of more current project filings finds that industry largesse has actually continued to flow to Ohio political leaders with sway over video gaming's future.


Lobbyists and a PAC with ties to Jack Casino, DraftKings, FanDuel, MGM, Gamewise, Acid Rock, Underdog, Rush Street or Caesars have contributed about $130,000 to Ohio state legislators in the previous three years, records reveal - about a 3rd of that directed to leading House and Senate leaders. Then-Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who was placing as DeWine's likely gubernatorial follower, had actually received about $9,000 from industry-connected entities and people before being selected to the U.S. Senate.


At least one effective state lawmaker, Republican House Finance Chairman Brian Stewart, had pledged to present legislation securing prop bets prior to expert baseball's crackdown.


"I think that prop bets are a considerable part of sports wagering in the state of Ohio," Stewart informed .com in August. "It ´ s something that clearly a lot of Ohioans have taken part in and enjoy, and I wear ´ t think there ´ s something that we should remove totally."


Amid such pushback, DeWine and others now see voluntary buy-in from leagues, gamers' unions and sportsbooks as a remarkable approach to pursuing gambling constraints on a state-by-state basis, where the authority lies.


Matt Schuler, executive director of the Ohio Casino Control Commission, said the baseball offer DeWine assisted broker has actually revealed it can be done.


"He ´ s using the bully pulpit and he ´ s able to get in touch with the right individuals because way," Schuler said of DeWine. "No one thought that everyone could get on the exact same page, today they did due to the fact that everybody understands the risk. The bets are little, but the risk is huge, therefore, having observed gaming and controlled it for about 14 years, this is impressive."


DeWine stated his worry about sports betting began practically as soon as Ohio's law worked in 2023. Very quickly, his workplace began receiving reports that bettors were threatening members of the University of Dayton basketball group.


So he contacted NCAA President Charlie Baker, whom he understood from Baker's time as governor of Massachusetts, and found out that he shared DeWine's issue. He got Baker to write a letter requesting the elimination of collegiate prop bets from the list of legal wagers that sportsbooks operating in Ohio might put, which allowed DeWine to usher the change through the gambling establishment commission.


After the Guardians case emerged this summer, DeWine approached Manfred with the same concept. They hadn't both been governors, however DeWine did have one cache going in: his family's long-time ownership of North Carolina's Asheville Tourists. DeWine said Manfred asked him to hold off on pressing unilateral action in Ohio, in hopes of getting the parties to consent to a brand-new national guideline.


"I would have preferred to have totally done away with the micro-prop bets, but this is the location that he had the ability to decide on with them, and I was pleased with that," DeWine stated. "And so, I think that ´ s progress."


DeWine, who faces term limits next year, said he would be pleased to sign a repeal of Ohio's sports wagering law at this moment, but he's specific there's inadequate assistance for that at the Ohio Statehouse.


"There's not the votes for that. I can count," he said. "I ´ m not always right, but I can practically ensure you that they're not ready to do this."


Instead, he'll continue to make his case in other methods.


DeWine, a passionate baseball fan, particularly of his home town Cincinnati Reds, said he thinks "these sports are having fun with dynamite here and the stability of the sports is at stake."


"So, you try to do what you can do, and you try and warn individuals, and attempt to take action like we finished with college, and you attempt act like what we ´ re doing with baseball," he stated. "But we ´ ve got to keep pressing these other sports to do it, too."


AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.


FILE - Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, right, waits to distribute checking out certificates to kids before a Cleveland Guardians baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in Cleveland, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Phil Long, File)