Zona de Azar USA – Ohio Senate Approves Bill to Legalize Sports Betting

USA.- June 18, 2021 www.zonadeazar.com The Ohio Senate approved legislation to legalize sports betting in Ohio on Wednesday along with a bill to allow college athletes for the first time to earn money based on the use of their names, images and likenesses.

The sports betting bill would allow 53 licenses to be issued for taking wagers on professional and college sports. That’s an increase from 40 licenses in the original version of the bill.

Twenty-five of those licenses would be available to Ohio’s casinos and horse racing tracks called racinos, which could then partner with outside companies to provide sports betting online or mobile apps.

Another 33 licenses would be for brick-and-mortar locations that could include casinos, racinos, sports bars or betting shops where people can watch and wager on games.

The bill also allows betting on Ohio university football and basketball games, which the Inter-University Council of Ohio opposes. Council CEO Bruce Johnson says legalized sports betting will require universities to monitor athletes to ensure they are not involved in point shaving and students are not dealing inside information to bettors.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission will begin accepting applications for sports betting licenses on Jan. 1 and begin awarding licenses by April 1. Ohio could earn about $17 million in tax revenue for the fiscal year beginning July 1 of 2022 and $23 million the following year, according to a legislative analysis. The bill calls for 98% of the tax to be deposited in an education fund and the remaining 2% in a fund for problem sports gambling.

Since 2019, at least 16 states – including Arizona, Nebraska, and Michigan – have approved legislation allowing college athletes to make money through advertisements, sponsorship deals and other types of promotions based on their athletic success.

Five of those bills – approved by Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and New Mexico – become law July 1.

Edited by: @_fonta  www.zonadeazar.com