Ohio Bill Would Ban Online Sports Betting Entirely, Cap Wagers at $100

A group of Ohio Republican lawmakers has formally introduced House Bill 971, known as the “Save Ohio Sports Act,” which would eliminate online sports betting statewide while keeping retail sportsbooks open under a much stricter set of rules. If passed, Ohio would become the first state to repeal legal mobile sports betting since the 2018 fall of PASPA cleared the way for nationwide expansion.

State Representatives Jonathan Newman and Beth Lear introduced the bill, backed by eight additional Republican co-sponsors. It builds on an April announcement where Newman joined Reps. Riordan McClain and Gary Click to outline plans for an overhaul of the state’s sports gaming industry.

The Restrictions Bettors Would Face

Under HB 971, wagering would be confined entirely to Ohio’s four full-service casinos and their in-person sportsbooks. Only straight single-game bets would remain legal, with parlays, live in-game wagers, and player prop bets all banned. The bill also caps individual wagers at $100 and restricts bettors to eight wagers within any 24-hour window. College sports betting would be prohibited outright.

Funding restrictions are part of the package too. Credit cards and borrowed funds could no longer be used to finance betting accounts, limiting deposits to ACH transfers, wire transfers, promotional credit, and winnings. New advertising rules would also ban sportsbook ads inside college athletics venues and during live sports broadcasts.

A Separate Regulatory Push on Credit Cards

HB 971 isn’t the only effort targeting how Ohioans fund their bets. The Ohio Casino Control Commission is finalizing a rule that would ban credit card deposits for sportsbook accounts independent of the legislature’s timeline. Derek Longmeier, Executive Director of the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio, has backed that rule, noting how difficult it has become to track problem betting patterns with more than a dozen mobile sportsbooks operating in the state.

That rule still needs sign-off from the state’s Common Sense Initiative and the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review before it can take effect.

Long Odds, But a Signal Worth Watching

HB 971 has not yet been assigned to a House committee, and its path forward is far from certain. It would need to clear both chambers of the Ohio General Assembly before reaching Governor Mike DeWine’s desk, a bar that similar legislation elsewhere has failed to clear. Maryland’s Senate Bill 1033 pursued a comparable rollback in 2025 and never advanced.

Still, the introduction of HB 971 marks the most serious legislative challenge Ohio’s sports betting market has faced since it launched mobile wagering in January 2023. Online betting now accounts for the overwhelming majority of the state’s handle, and any move to eliminate it would represent a significant reversal for one of the country’s more active regulated markets.