Big Expansion of Ohio's Sportsbook Market Expected in January

Ohio Sportsbooks to Launch in January Online Betting

Huge Number of Ohio Sportsbooks to Launch in January

By Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief Updated: 17 December 2022

Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief

Blake Roberts is the founder of Betting.US and is currently heading the creative team as Editor in Chief. Born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, Blake is a great sports fan, with football and basketball being his favorite. He’s our trusted voice for all betting-related matters.

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Many sports fans, operators, and officials in Ohio will be excited about the prospect of legal sports betting, with the market set to launch at the start of next year.

With just weeks to go, many fans will be eager to place bets and enjoy the remainder of the football season and are also looking forward to being able to place bets on other major sports events that are set to take place in the early part of 2023.

Legal sports betting is due to go live on New Year’s Day, which also happens to be the busiest 48 hours of the year for sports. Some sportsbooks are ahead of the game with plans for celebratory events and a launch at a minute past midnight, and these will take place both online and at physical locations.

It is reported that while not all approved sportsbooks will go live on New Year’s Day, the state’s sports betting market could go live with the launch of around 18 sports betting platforms on January 1st.

Major Players in Sports Betting to Launch

So far, the Ohio Casino Control Commission has given approval to 22 digital operators and 21 retail operators to go live with their sportsbook offerings on New Year’s Day. Not all of them will launch on January 1st, but many of the big players are planning to burst onto the scene with events and extravagant launches.

Hard Rock and Jack Entertainment will be throwing lavish New Year’s Eve parties at physical locations to celebrate the launch before their 12.01 am digital launches. Betfred has also now confirmed that it will be launching on New Year’s Day, as have big names such as DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM, among others.

The Betfred sportsbook is getting fans geared up, with one social media post stating:

Big announcements coming for the Betfred Betting Launch Party on January 1st…

In addition, Betfred have also posted several other social media posts hyping followers up for the upcoming launch.

With regard to retail sports betting, officials from the gaming commission said that all four of the casinos it oversees plan to launch sports betting on January 1st.

Launch in Time for Major Sports Events

The timing of the launch is a boon for both operators and fans, as this will be the busiest two days of the year for sport. The first day will see a full schedule of NFL games and the following day there will be four college football bowl games along with the Cincinnati Bengals vs. the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football.

There are also other major sports events that bettors in the state will be able to look forward to betting on once the launch goes ahead, including Super Bowl 2023 and March Madness, as well as both the NBA and NHL.

These events will see a huge amount of sports betting activity and means that operators that have launched by the time these events go ahead will be able reap the rewards.