Ohio Doubles Sports Betting Tax Rate in New Budget

• Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed the state’s budget into law
• The budget includes an increased sports betting tax rate
• The 20% sports betting tax rate went into effect on July 1

Not even eight months into sports betting, Ohio legislators are making big changes to the state’s sports betting tax rate.

The Ohio Senate and House of Representatives approved a new state fiscal year 2024-2025 budget last week. The $85.8 billion state budget includes an increase of the Ohio sports betting tax rate from 10% to 20%, which comes only six months after the state’s sports betting launch.

The Senate approved the budget by a 25-6 vote while the House approved the document by a 67-30 vote.

The new tax rate went into effect on July 1, 2023.

DeWine Signs New Sports Betting Rate, Provision into Law

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed the state budget into law on July 3 and got his wish to increase the state’s sports betting tax rate to 20%. While just a small portion of the state’s massive budget, DeWine stumped for an increase rate back in February when he debuted his version of the budget, just one month after sports betting launched in the state.

However, in April the Ohio House of Representative approved their own version of the state budget that did not include the increase.

The Senate went on to amend the House version of the budget in June to include the tax rate hike. The Senate approved the budget on Thursday, June 15, by a 24-7 vote, but did not specifically comment on the sports betting tax increase during its floor debate.

The House of Representatives voted two weeks ago to not concur with the Senate-amended budget. No discussion on the sports betting tax rate was included on the House floor when it voted to approve the budget last week.

A provision that would allow Ohio’s three most populous counties to house up to seven brick-and-mortar sportsbooks, up from five in the current sports betting law, was not included in the final budget.

However, one new provision that was included in the budget will help the Ohio Casino Control Commission keep sports betting safe for state athletes. If a sports bettor is found making a threat to an athlete regarding a sports betting that individual can be banned from sports betting in the state.

Also included in the approved Ohio budget:

A new provision allowing the commission to ban Ohio bettors from participating in sports betting if they're found to be threatening violence or harm against a person involved in a sporting event. pic.twitter.com/pOWuvCpBal

— RLinnehanXL (@RLinnehanXl) July 5, 2023

More Than $50 Million in Taxes Through May

Ohio’s sports betting market has been booming since its January launch. Through its first five months Ohio has generated more than $507.08 million in taxable revenue, which translated to more than $50.7 million in tax revenue at its current 10% sports betting tax rate.

At a 20% tax rate, that figure would have doubled to $101.4 million in taxes for Ohio.