A top gaming regulator said Wednesday that applications for Ohio sports betting licenses won’t be rubber-stamped and stressed there is still a lot of work to be done before anyone is approved to offer legal wagering in the Buckeye State.
Matt Schuler, executive director of the Ohio Casino Control Commission, gave members of the regulatory body (as well as other observers) a rundown of what happens now that the first window for license applications has closed, giving bureaucrats a pile of submissions to sort through.
And, according to Schuler, the process will be a bit more complicated than trying to get a driver’s license.
“There's no rubber stamp at the commission,” he said during a meeting on Wednesday.
Suit up
The executive director’s remarks chiefly focused on the fact that Ohio's sports-betting law requires regulators to consider things such as the reputation, experience, and financial integrity of applicants in deciding whether they deserve a license. The commission must also review would-be licensees’ history of compliance with gambling regulators, whether granting a license to a company would undermine the public's confidence in the industry, and potential economic-development factors, among other things.
These “suitability standards” will have to be met for an applicant to earn the “privilege” of getting a sports-betting license in Ohio, the executive director said.
“And I say privilege of a license, because, in a lot of these conversations that I've been having, it seems that folks think if they submitted an application, they have the right to the license, without understanding the General Assembly had a lot to say about whether someone should have the privilege of a license,” Schuler said.
The executive director stressed to the commission that regulators are taking their work very seriously and that they won’t make any recommendations about awarding licenses until they feel they have everything prepared accordingly.
Stamp out
Schuler’s comments came after the Ohio Casino Control Commission posted an update on Friday outlining the current applicants for retail and online “proprietor” licenses, which will allow the holders to offer sports betting. Those proprietors can also contract with licensed service providers (such as a DraftKings or FanDuel) to operate sportsbooks on their behalf.
The latest update to the list of applicants showed 22 applicants for online "proprietor" licenses and 20 applicants for mobile management services provider licenses. That tees up the possibility of 20 online sportsbooks going live in Ohio on Jan. 1, 2023, the day that legal sports betting can begin in the state.
Among those applying for the proprietor-level licenses are teams such as the Cleveland Guardians, who aim to partner with bet365 to deliver online sports betting in the state. Professional sports teams and casino operators will be given preference for their applications. However, one application that has reportedly raised eyebrows is from the SPIRE Institute, a sports complex and the site of a prep school in northeastern Ohio that is eyeing both an online and retail sports betting license.
Schuler also said Wednesday that the commission did have some submissions after the regulator posted its latest update last Friday, which was a key deadline for online and retail proprietor license applications. Applications for those licenses could still be filed, but there is no guarantee for those applicants that they’ll be allowed to launch on the universal start date of January 1.
Ohio’s sports-betting law allows for up to 25 online sports betting proprietors initially, as well as 40 brick-and-mortar sportsbooks. Yet anyone seeking such a permit will apparently find themselves under a regulatory microscope, especially when it comes to their past behavior.
“The commission will hold everyone to the same standard going through this, but I don't want anybody to think for a minute that this is a rubber-stamp activity,” Schuler said.
