Ohio Sports Betting Promos: Sports betting is live, new offers are here (January 2023)

Ohio Sports Betting Promo Codes

Sports betting has officially launched in the state of Ohio.

With Ohio sports betting officially launched as of January 1, 2023, there are some great welcome bonuses and offers for users to take advantage of. Here are the best Ohio sports betting offers available now (confirmed as of January 2023):

21+ and present in OH. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

DraftKings Ohio: Now Live

DraftKings Ohio has opened the doors in the state of Ohio with a great welcome bonus where you can bet $5 and get $200 in site credits. Just signup for your account today, make your deposit and your first bet, then you’ll be eligible for the $200 in bet credits.

DraftKings Sportsbook

States: Ohio.
21+ and present in OH. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

CLAIM NOW!

BONUS BETS

GET $200

BONUS BETS

BET NOW!

Click here to signup on DraftKings, and get $200 in bonus bets after placing a wager of at least $5.

FanDuel Ohio: Now Live

FanDuel Ohio is live in the state of Ohio as of January 1, 2023.

FanDuel Sportsbook

Ohio
21+ and present in OH. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

CLAIM NOW!

Welcome Offer

$150 IN BONUS BETS

BET $5, GET

BET NOW!

FanDuel Ohio is one of the biggest brands in sports betting, and Ohio bettors can take advantage of a Bet $5, Get $200 in bonus bets offer from FanDuel. Click here to signup.

Caesars Ohio Is Live

Caesars Sportsbook is open for business in Ohio. First time Caesars online sports bettors can snag an offer to bet $50, and get $250 in bonus bets on Caesars today:

Caesars Sportsbook

States: Ohio
21+ and present in OH. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

CLAIM NOW!

CODE: STGET

CODE: STGET

FIRST BET ON CAESARS!

$1,000

FIRST BET BACK ON CAESARS

BET NOW!

BetMGM Ohio: Now Live

BetMGM Ohio is offering a welcome bonus of a $1,000 first bet offer on a new Ohio user’s first bet.

BetMGM

States: Ohio
21+ and present in OH. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

CLAIM NOW!

WELCOME OFFER

$1,500

FIRST-BET BACK OFFER

BET NOW!

Quick Ohio Sports Betting Promos Facts

When a new state opens legalized sports betting in the U.S., the major sportsbook operators typically will offer a wide selection of attractive promos and bonuses to attract new users to their platforms.

• Ohio online sports betting launched on Jan 1, 2023. Ohio is the 7th most populous state and a major sports market with numerous professional and collegiate sports teams.
• Most major sportsbooks offer a number of welcome bonuses within the state of Ohio.
• Promos that you can find in Ohio range from bet credit bonuses, first bet insurance and odds boost.

Sportsbooks have launched in Ohio

The following sportsbooks have online sports betting license partnerships that have been approved by the Ohio Casino Control Commission. Most of them launched on Jan. 1, 2023.

• WynnBET
• PlayUP
• BetFred
• BetMGM
• Bet365
• BetRivers
• SuperBook
• BallyBet
• Parx
• Underdog Sports
• DraftKings
• PointsBet
• Barstool Sportsbook
• FanDuel
• Caesars Sportsbook
• Bet Fanatics (Fanatics)
• Tipico
• Fubo

What you should know about promos

When sportsbook look out over a long-term time period, they know they will “win” in the sense that they will make money on sports bettors. How sportsbooks make money is an indepth topic and is out of scope for this page, but let’s just say, sportsbooks are in business to make money. However, sign-up bonuses can “level the playing field” short-term for the sports bettor. The operators then bank on users sticking around and betting on their platform for years to come, recouping the acquisition costs of the paid-out bonuses and eventually turning positive into profit for the operator.

Math nerds and obsessive sports bettors have shown a knack in the past for combining lucrative sign-up bonuses and promos across sportsbooks to either amass a sizeable bank roll for future betting or simply execute complex hedging systems to guarantee profit. A reddit user detailed one such strategy when sports betting opened in New York, but be warned, this stuff can get complex and make your head spin.

The “no sweat” bet or first bet insurance

The first bet insurance bonus is a common promotion we see from a number of sportsbook operators. Essentially how it works is that a new user can make a deposit and make a first bet. If the bet loses, the sportsbook will refund the losses into your account with a maximum of something like $1,000. But you can’t go and withdraw that refunded amount. You’ll have to bet it, then if you win money, you can withdraw that money.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good offer for new users. It completely removes the risk of the initial bet… sort of. Again, you can’t pull out the money that the sportsbook refunds you if your initial bet loses. So, factor this in when you are deciding deposit and bet amounts as you get started. Critics of this type of promo often say that this can type of sports betting promo can normalize betting larger amounts that a user might normally be comfortable risking. Well, yes. Sportsbooks are eager for you to bet larger amounts. Remember to bet responsibly.

Deposit match bonuses

Another form of sign-up bonus or promo can be the deposit match bonus where the sportsbook will match your initial deposit up to a certain amount. Again, you might see this as a $500 cap or $1,000 cap. And, similarly to the first bet insurance bonus, you usually cannot withdraw this amount. These bonus funds are there simply to bet. To pull the money out, you’ll have to bet it, and win money that can then lead to withdrawals.

Odds Boosts

Odds boosts promos often get a lot of attention in places like social media because they are positioned as fun, no-brainer outcomes for users that signup and start betting. Typically what will happen is that the sportsbook will increase the odds of a certain wager to entice new users.

A well known example is from The Masters in 2019 when Tiger Woods who was behind the leader by a couple shots was listed at 3-1 odds to win the tournament. DraftKings decided to boost the odds up to 10-1 for bettors in New Jersey. Tiger went on to win at Augusta, and DraftKings ended up paying out a hefty chunk of change to bettors who took advantage of the odds boost.

Odds boosts are often used by sportsbooks not only to entice new users, but to keep existing users engaged with the platform.

Sports specific promos

Sportsbook operators will often market sports specific promos such as a bonus amount of money as a result of a certain event happening. Recent examples here can include things like if you bet $10 on an NFL game, you will get a $100 bonus if either quarterback throws for a touchdown. These are often positioned as no-brainer, new user promos that lead to quite a bit of new user sign-ups for the operators.

Parlay insurance

Users will sometimes be offered parlay insurance where you get your losses refunded in the event that your parlay bet loses as a result of losing only one leg of the parlay. For example, if you string together 3 NFL spread bets into a single parlay bet and two of the three legs hit, a promo may refund your bet as a result of “almost” winning the parlay. Typically these bets have a maximum amount that can be refunded and also require a minimum of legs to be included in the parlay.

Understanding the Ohio sports betting legislation

After plenty of negotiations, Ohio lawmakers passed legislation HB 29 on December 8, 2021. The bill was subsequently signed into law by Ohio governor Mike DeWine. The bill legalized sports betting throughout the state at brick-and-mortar facilities as well as through online offerings.

The bill establishes the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) to legislate sports gaming through the issurance of three license types: Type A, Type B and Type C. Type A licenses are for online mobile gaming operators and will be limited to 25 licenses at a time. Type B licenses are for brick-and-mortar operators and will be limited to 40 licenses. Type C refers to self-service terminals and will be limited to 20. License terms are five years.

The state will tax all net revenue of sports betting operators at a 10% tax rate. Additionally Type A licenses will come with a fee ranging anywhere from $2.5 million to $500,000. Type B and Type C licenses will come with a fee ranging from $50,000 to $100,000.

Ohio licenses and partnerships between professional sports franchises and sportsbook operators

The Ohio sports betting legislation requires online sports betting operators to partner with an entity that has a retail sports betting license. In Ohio, this means online sports betting operators must partner with either an Ohio casino or a professional sports franchise in the state. While early drafts of the legislation had Ohio casinos in favorable position, the professional sports teams fought to be on a more even footing for the licensing process for Ohio sports betting. And now we can see that this fight has indeed paid off as many of the sports franchises have struck deals with operators.

Here are the updated licenses and partnerships in Ohio:

• Cincinnati Bengals: Betfred Sports (online license)
• Cleveland Browns: Bally’s (online and retail licenses)
• Columbus Blue Jackets: Fanatics (online and retail licenses)
• Cincinnati Reds: Underdog Sports (online license) and BetMGM (retail license)
• Crew SC: Tipico (online and retail licenses)
• Cleveland Cavaliers: Fubo (online license) and Caesars (retail license)
• Cleveland Guardians: bet365 (online license) and Fanatics (retail license)
• FC Cincinnati: SuperBook (online and retail license)

So why is this important? Well, there are some very interesting ramifications here. First, the professional sports franchises are in on the sports betting scene in a major way in Ohio. This means that they will be receiving revenue share on the sports betting revenue. The operators will take a major of the revenue share since they’re doing most of the heavy lifting of course, but the sports teams will get their cut.

Secondly, you’re going to see sports betting facilities in and around professional sports stadiums in Ohio. The Cleveland Cavaliers will be partnering with Fubo Gaming on Fubo’s online sports betting app, but they are partnering with Caesars Sportsbook on a retail sports betting location inside the Cavaliers stadium. NFL rules prohibit sports betting inside NFL stadiums on gamedays, but the teams are getting around this by placing retail sports betting lounges and facilities just outside the stadium (while still on the grounds). The Browns, for instance, have already announced a Bally’s themed lounge that will be on the grounds of the football stadium.

Is this unique? Sports betting partnerships with professional sports franchises are not unique to Ohio, but the scale and immediacy we will see in Ohio might be unique. The reality is that you combine the online sports betting operators entering the state, the land casino presence, the partnerships with the sports franchises and you’ve got a serious sports betting scene rapidly approaching in Ohio. Oh, right… did we mention that there are going to also be 1000+ sports betting kiosks and restaurants and bars around the state? Ohio might rapidly become the no. 1 sports betting market in the country in 2023.

Frequently asked questions