- Ohio was the busiest state as far as geolocation transactions were concerned during New Year’s weekend.
- The Buckeye state had 11.3 million total geolocation checks from 783,868 unique accounts.
- Gov. Mike DeWine has issued a warning to sports betting operators who have violated advertising rules.
Ohio’s sports betting market debuted with a bang.
According to geolocation security and compliance company GeoComply, the Buckeye state was the busiest regulated market in the United States during New Year’s weekend.
Check out Ohio’s citizens legally betting on sports for the first time during NFL Sunday on New Year's Day! 🏈
Learn more: https://t.co/AB2hDH45Iq pic.twitter.com/NCk3uSnw7k
— GeoComply (@GeoComply) January 4, 2023
Legal sports betting debuted in Ohio on January 1st with the likes of bet365, Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Hard Rock among 16 online operators joining the launch. Within an hour after the clock struck midnight, Ohio already recorded 234,000 geolocations checks.
In a statement GeoComply Senior vice-president Lindsay Slater said:
Ohio Tops Market Leader New York
Across the holiday weekend, Ohio registered a total of 11.3 million geolocation transactions from 783,868 unique accounts. Ohio’s total was more than the 9.3 million geolocation checks recorded in New York, which is the U.S. market leader. New York has a population of 19.8 million compared to Ohio’s $11.8 million.
Pennsylvania came in third with 8.2 million geolocation transactions while New Jersey was relegated to 4th with its 6.7 million total. Meanwhile, Michigan completed the Top 5 with the Wolverine state posting a total of 5.8 million geolocation checks from 00:00 EST on January 1st to 23:59 on January 2nd.
Pennsylvania, with a population of 13.0 million, ranked second behind Ohio with 527,371 unique accounts during the weekend. New York came in third with 460,306 unique accounts while New Jersey, the least populated state among the Top 5 regulated markets, was fourth with 423,425 unique accounts. Meanwhile, Michigan posted 418,513 unique accounts during the two days.
According to GeoComply’s data, Cincinnati was the busiest Ohio city with 1,898,000 geolocation transactions. Columbus, the most populous city in the state, came in second with 1,033,000 geolocation checks while Cleveland and Toledo followed with 772,000 and 619,000, respectively.
Ohio Governor Warns Gambling Companies
“The companies that are doing the massive advertising need to be aware that they’re being looked at very closely by the governor and the Casino Control Commission in regard to statements that they are making,” DeWine said. https://t.co/G5HSzn9750
— clevelanddotcom (@clevelanddotcom) January 4, 2023
The success of Ohio’s sports betting launch comes at the heels of its governor, Mike DeWine, issuing a warning to all sports betting operators for violating the state’s sports betting advertising rules. DeWine noted that operators have “crossed the line several times”. Although he did not specifically mention them, there were a couple of instances when the OCCC flagged Ohio sports betting operators last month.
State regulators announced last Friday that DraftKings mailed an estimated 2,500 advertisements to people under the age of 21, an age group not allowed to gamble under Ohio laws. That led to the OCCC meeting out a $350,000 fine on the said sports betting company. DraftKings is, however, entitled to make an appeal but after a hearing, the OCCC will still make the final decision.
While DraftKings is the only company that has been fined so far, it is not the first operator whom the OCCC has called out. Last December 9th, the Commission sent a letter to Penn Entertainment and Barstool Sportsbook a notice of violation for holding an advertising event near the University of Toledo campus. Advertising on college campuses is not allowed under the state’s sports betting laws.
