American Gaming Association: Ohio Prop Ban Will Weaken Event Oversight

• The American Gaming Association said a ban on Ohio prop betting will weaken oversight
• Regulated operators, working hand in hand with professional leagues and integrity monitors, detect potential sports betting misconduct
• Monitoring agency recognized suspicious betting patterns on two Guardians pitchers that led to MLB sports betting investigation

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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R) proposal to ban prop betting in the Buckeye State will weaken the legal, regulated market’s ability to monitor for potential misconduct, according to the American Gaming Association.

By completely eliminating Ohio’s prop betting market, Joe Maloney, SVP of Strategic Communications for the American Gaming Association (AGA), said the state will also be eliminating the legal operators’ ability to monitor the market for suspicious activity, which recently led to Major League Baseball instituting a sports betting investigation of two Cleveland Guardians pitchers.

“Recent instances of suspicious activity that led to player suspensions were flagged by legal, regulated operators working hand-in-hand with professional leagues and integrity monitors. This demonstrates that the regulated market works: it detects potential misconduct, it reports it, and it helps hold bad actors accountable. Prohibition doesn’t stop betting—it stops oversight. Illegal operators won’t honor bans, won’t partner with leagues, and won’t protect players or fans,” Maloney said.

Illegal Markets are Unregulated, Not Monitored

Gov. DeWine recently called on the Ohio Casino Control Commission to remove prop betting markets from Ohio following an MLB investigation into two Guardians pitchers and threats to players from sports bettors.

Gov. DeWine pointed to micro prop-bets on highly controllable moments within a game that can be influenced by a single athlete as particularly troublesome. Guardians pitchers Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase were both recently placed on non-disciplinary paid leave by MLB after being included in a sports betting investigation.

A firm that monitors betting activity reported suspicious wagering on two separate pitches thrown by Ortiz during two games he started. No details have yet been released as to why Clase is now being included in the investigation.

The firm noted suspicious betting volumes on two separate pitches during his June 15 and June 27 starts against the Seattle Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals, respectively. Both were balls and thrown well outside the strike zone. Larger than normal amounts of money were placed on whether Ortiz would throw a strike or ball in a certain inning.

Both pitchers will remain on leave at least through Sunday, Aug. 31.

However, the elimination of the prop betting market will not put an end to sports betting integrity concerns. It will only drive users to place prop bets with offshore markets and allow athletes to do the same, but do so in an illegal market where integrity monitoring does not exist.

“The American Gaming Association shares Governor DeWine’s commitment to protecting the integrity of sports and safeguarding athletes. However, eliminating proposition bets from Ohio’s legal, regulated market does not address the root cause of recent integrity concerns—it only risks driving this activity into the shadows of the illegal market where no one is watching,” he said.

Blanket Prohibitions Do Not Work

Ohio’s sports betting market is one of the most robustly regulated markets in the entire country. By instituting a blanket prohibition on prop bets, it undoes the work Ohio gaming regulators put into developing and constructing the rules and regulations that keep sports bettors safe.

“The most effective path forward is education and deterrence: making sure every athlete knows the rules, understands the risks, and recognizes that if they compromise the game’s integrity, the legal market will catch it,” Maloney said.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission has yet to make a decision on Gov. DeWine’s request. Currently, the commission is gathering additional information for its members before ultimately ruling on the potential prohibition.

The commission will announce its next steps in the coming days.

“Ohio has built a strong, transparent sports betting framework. We urge policymakers to build on that success by doubling down on integrity partnerships and responsible education, rather than weakening it by ceding ground to the unregulated market with blanket prohibitions,” Maloney said.